
BookJ=L^l_ 



PRESENTED BY 



do 



n 



^ 



(9^ 



/ 



f^ 



^ 



^A 



A 



HISTORY 



OF 



THE UNITED STATES. 



FOR FAMILIES AND LIBRARIES. 



BY 



BENSON J. LOSSING, 

AUTHOR OF " PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK OF THE REVOLUTION," " HISTORY OF THE UNITED 
STATES FOR SCHOOLS;" "LIVES OF EMINENT AMERICANS," ETC. 



ILLUSTRATED BY NEARLY THREE HUNDRED ENGRAVINGS. 



NEW YORK: 
MASON BROTHERS 

108 & 110 DUANE STKEET. 
18 5 7. 






DESCRIPTION OF THE FRONTISPIECE. 



On one side stands an old man representing The Past, counting the passage of the years upon the dial of Time. On the 
opposite side is a young woman, representing The Present, and holding in her hand the Constitution, and the pileus and cap 
of Liberty. She is pointing to the unfinished pyramid of the States of the Republic, over which is the rising sun, with the 
words ExCELSOiR— " still higher I" On one side of The Past is The British Flag indicating the Colonial Era. On the other 
side is the American Flag, indicating the Confederation. In the center is a Doric Column, Emblem of Strength and Congruiiy, 
surmounted by an Eagle, the symbol of Sovereignty. These represent our government. Leaning against the column is 
History, making her records. On the side of The Past is a Censer, emblem of Purification, the incense from which, comii.g 
down from The Past, is diffused over The Present. Over-arching the whole are stars upon a blue field, our national Constel- 
lation, and symbol of our Confederated States. Around The Past clusters the Ivy, ar.d aro'iud The Present is the Honeysuckle. 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1856, 

BY MASON BROTHERS, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District of New York. 






ELECTROTTPED BY PRINTED BY 

THOMAS B. SMITH C. A. ALVORD, 

82 & &4 Beekman Street, N. T. 15 Vandewater-st., N.T. 



ra 



PREFACE. 

This work has been prepared with great care, for the purpose of supply- 
ing a want long felt by the reading public, and especially by Heads of Fam- 
ilies. Every important event in the history of the United States, from the 
Aboriginal period to the present time, is presented in a concise, but perspic- 
uous and comprehensive manner, without giving those minute and often 
tedious details, which are valuable to the student, but irksome to the common 
reader. The History of our Republic is herein popularized, and adapted to 
the use of those who may not find leisure to peruse more extensive works 
upon the subject. The materials have been drawn from the earlier, most 
elaborate, and most reliable historians and chroniclers of our continent. The 
work is constructed upon a new plan, which, it is believed, will be found to 
be the most acceptable yet offered to the public, for obtaining, with facility, 
and fixing in the memory, a knowledge of the great events of our truly won- 
derful history. And having visited a greater portion of the localities made 
memorable by important occurrences in our country, the writer claims, in 
that particular, an advantage over his predecessors in this special field, for 
he has been able to correct errors and give truthful impressions of things and 
events. An endeavor has also been made to show the cause of every import- 
ant event, and thus, by developing the philosophy of our history, to make it 
more attractive and instructive than a bald record of facts. And wherever 
the text appeared to need further elucidation, additional facts have been given 
in foot-notes. 

The arrangement of the work is new. It is in six Periods, each com- 
mencing where the history naturally divides into distinct epochs. The first 
Period exhibits a general view of the Aboriginal race who occupied the con- 
tinent when the Europeans came. The second is a record of all the Discov- 
eries and preparations for settlement, made by individuals and governments. 
The third delineates the progress of all the Settlements until colonial gov- 
ernments were formed. The fourth tells the story of these Colonies from 
their infiincy to maturity, and illustrates the continual development of Dem- 
ocratic ideas and Republican tendencies which finally resulted in a political 



VI PEEPACE. 

confederation. The fifth has a full account of the important events of the 
War for Independence, and the sixth gives a concise history of the Re- 
public, from its formation to the present time. The Supplement is com- 
posed of the most important State Papers connected with that formation, 
such as the Stamp Act, and papers put forth by the Stamp Act Congress ; 
the papers presented to the consideration of the world by the First and Sec- 
ond Continental Congresses ; the Declaration of Independence ; the Articles 
of Confederation ; and the Federal Constitution, with the admirable Farewell 
Address of Washington. These documents, thus grouped and preserved, will 
be found valuable as embodying the principles of our government. The 
original draft, with the amendments, of the Declaration of Independence, is 
given ; and, in foot-notes, every charge made against the king of Great Brit- 
ain, in that manifesto, is proven from History. The Federal Constitution is 
also accompanied by important commentaries. 

The system of concordance interwoven with the notes throughout the 
entire work, is of great importance to the reader. When a fact is named 
which bears a relation to another fact elsewhere recorded in the volume, a 
reference is made to the page where such fact is mentioned A knowledge 
of this relationship of separate events is often essential to a clear view of the 
subject, and without this concordance, a great deal of time would be spent in 
searching for that relationship. With the concordance the matter may be 
found in a moment. Favorable examples of the utility of this new feature 
may be found on page 289. If strict attention shall be given to these refer- 
ences, the whole subject will be presented to the mind of the reader in a 
comprehensive aspect of unity not to be obtained by any other method. 

The engravings are introduced not for the sole purpose of embellishing 
the volume, but to enhance its utility as an instructor. Every picture is 
intended to illustrate a fact, not merely to beautify the page. Great care 
has been taken to secure accuracy in all the delineations of men and things, 
so that they may not convey false instruction. Geographical maps have been 
omitted, because they must necessarily be too small to be of essential service. 
History may be j^ead for the purpose of obtaining general information on the 
subject, without maps, but it should never be studied without the aid of an 
accurate Atlas, 

The author has endeavored to make this work essentially a Family 
History, attractive and instructive; and the Publishers have generously 
CO- worked with him in producing a volume that may justly claim to be 
excellent in every particular. With these few observations concerning the 
general plan and merits of the work, it is presented to the public, with an 
entire willingness to have its reputation rest upon its own merits. 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



1. iLLtTMINATED FrOXTISPIECE 

2. Sioux Indians 

3. Portrait of Red JACiiET 

4. A Wigwam 

5. Wampum 

6. Indian HiEROtti-TPiiics 

7. Indian Weapons 

8. Calumets 

9. Indian Burial-Place 

10. Indian Totum 

11. Profile of Black Hawk 

12. Uncas's Monument 

13. Portrait of Sa.muel Kirkland 

14. Southern Indians 

15. Columbus before tue Council of Salamanca 

16. Portrait of A.merigo VESPtJCCl 

17. Northman 

IS. Norman Ship 

19. Old Tower at Newport 

20. Portrait of Columbus 

21. Portrait of Isabella 

22. The Fleet of Columbus 

23. Banner of the Expedition 

24. Balboa 

25. Portrait of De Soto 

26. Portrait of Sebastian Cabot 

27. Portrait of Verag azzi 

2S. Cartier's Ship 

29. Arms of France 

30. French Noblem.4^n, 1540 

31. Raleigh's Expedition at Roanoke 

32. Portrait of Sir Walter Raleigh 

33. R-^leigh's Ships 

34. English Gentleman, 15S0 

35. Portrait of Henry Hudson 

36. The Half-Moon 

37. Building Jamestown 

38. Portrait of Captain John Smith 

39. Portrait of Pocahontas 

40. Seal of New Netherland 

41. A Puritan 

42. Thf, Mayflower 

43. Governor Carver's Chair 

44. Portrait of Cecil, Lord Baltimore 

45. Hooker's Emigration TO Connecticut 

46. First Meeting-House in Connecticut 

47. Portrait of Roger Williams 

48. Portrait of William Penn. 

49. The Assembly* House, Pennsylvania 

50. Oglethorpe on the Site of Savannah 

51. Embarkation of the Pilgrims 

52. Portrait of James Edward Oglethorpe 

53. Church Tower at Jamestown 

54. First Colony Seal, Massachusetts 

55. Portrait of John Wixtiirop 

56. First Money Coined in the United St.vtes.. 

57. Portrait of King Philip 

5S. Pallisaded Building 

59. Portrait of Captain Church 

&>. Portrait of Cotton Mather 

61. Williams's House, Deekfield 

62. Plan of the Siege of Louisburg 

63. Portr.\it of Peter Stuyvesant 

64. City of New York in 1664 

65. Stuyvtjsant Surrendering Fort A.msterdam 

to the English 

66. The Charter Oak 



PAGE 

Penn's House 162 

Plan of Charleston in 1680 166 

Early" New England House 176 

I)UTCHM.4.N, 1660 176 

Plan of Fort Du Quesne 1S6 

Portrait of Braddock 186 

Burial of Braddock 187 

Plan of Fort Edward 190 

Portrait of Sir William Johnson 190 

Plan of Fort William Henry 191 

Portrait of General Abebcrombie 191 

Pl.\.ns of Forts at Oswego 192 

Block House 192 

M.\p of Lake George and Vicinity 194 

Portrait of Lord Amherst 196 

Plan of Ticonderog.i 196 

Ruins of Ticondeeog a 19J 

Portrait of Lord Howe 107 

Plan of Crown Point 200 

Plan of Fort Niagara 200 

General Wolfe 201 

Milit.\ry Oper.^tions at Quebec 202 

Monument to Wofle and Montcalm 202 

P.\TRicK Henry before the Virginia Assem- 
bly 207 

Portrait of James Otis 207 

Portrait of Benjamin West 210 

Portrait of David Rittenhouse 211 

Portrait of Patrick Henry 214 

A Stamp 215 

Portrait of Cadwallader Colden 216 

Portr.\it of William Pitt 217 

Portrait of John Dickenson 219 

Portrait of Sa.muel Ada.ms 221 

Portrait op Lord North 224 

F.tNEUIL H.\LL 225 

Snake Device 226 

Portrait of Charles Tuo.mson 227 

Carpenter's Hall 228 

John Hancock 2-30 

Plan of Bunker Hill B.^ttle 235 

Bunker Hill Monu.ment 235 

Portrait of Joseph Warren 237 

Portrait of Philip Schuyler 2-39 

Plan of the AValls of Quebec 242 

Portrait of General Montgo.mery 242 

Culpepper Flag 243 

Union Flag 245 

Bill of Credit or Continental Money 245 

Portrait of General Lee 243 

Portrait of General Moultrie 249 

State House, Philadelphia 250 

Portrait of Benjamin Rush 251 

Portrait of General Putnam 253 

Plan of the Battle on Long Island 254 

Plan of Fort Washington 256 

Retreat of the Americ.vns from Long Island 257 

The Jersey Prison-Ship 259 

Plan of the Battle at Trenton 263 

Portrait of Robert Morris 264 

Portrait of Sil.\s Deane 266 

Portrait of Benjamin Franklin 267 

Plan of the Battle at Princeton 269 

Portrait of La Fayette 273 

Plan of the Battle at the Brandywine. .. 273 

ClIEVAU.X-DE-FRISE 274 

Plan of the Battle at Gee.mantown 275 



Vlll 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



PAGE 

133. PoRTKAiT OF Gesekal St. Claik 276 

134. Portrait op Kosciuszko 277 

135. Portrait OF Joseph Brant 27S 

136. Portrait of General Burgoyne 27S 

J37. A Treaty 278 

13s. burgoyne surkenuering his swori) to 

Gates 279 

1-39. Plan of Operations at Bf.mis's Heights 281 

] 10. Portrait of Francis Hopkinson 284 

141. Plan of Encampment at Valley Forge 285 

142. Portrait of Sir Henry Clinton 287 

143. Plan of THE Battle at Monmouth 2S8 

144. Portrait of Count D'Estaing 2S9 

145. Portrait OF Baron Steuben 291 

146. Portrait of General Lincoln 294 

147. Plan of Stony Point 298 

148. Portrait of General Wayne 298 

149. Portrait OF Daniel Boone 299 

150. Portrait of George Hogers Clarke SuO 

151. Clarke's Expedition across tue "Drowned 

Lands." 301 

152. Portrait of General Sullivan 304 

153. Plan of the Siege op Savannah 8h5 

154. Portrait of Count Pulaski 305 

155. Portrait of John Paul Jones 307 

156. A Gun-Boat at Boston 307 

157. Portrait OF Admiral Hopkins 308 

153. Cipher Alphabet 809 

159. Portrait of Governor Kutledge 310 

]G:>. Portrait OF Commodore Whipple 310 

161. Plan of the Siege of Charleston 311 

361 Portrait of David Kamsay 312 

163. Portrait of General Gates 314 

164. Portrait OP General Sumter 315 

165. Plan OF Battle at Sanders's Creek 315 

1C6. Portrait of Baron De Kalb 316 

167. Portrait OF Colonel Tarleton 816 

168. Portrait OF General Marion 317 

16^ Portrait of Lord Corn wallis 3lS 

llK Marion's Encampment on the Pedee 821 

171: Portrait of Governor Trumbull 823 

172. Portrait of Benedict Arnold 825 

173. The Captors' Medal 827 

174. Portrait of General Greene 331 

175. Portrait of General Morgan 331 

170. Portrait OF Colonel Washington 332 

177. Portrait OF Colonel Henry Lee 333 

178. Plan OF the Battle at Guilford 3.33 

179. Plan OF the Battle AT IIobkirk's Hill 3-34 

180. Portrait of Rebecca Motte 335 

181. Plan of Fort Ninety-Six 3.36 

183. Portrait of General Pickens 336 

18-3. Portrait of Count de Eochambeau 839 

184. Portrait op Count De Grasse 840 

185. Plan of the Siege of Torktown 341 

186. Portrait op Benjamin Thompson (Count 

Eumford) 846 

187. Portrait of Ja.mes Jackson 347 

188. Portrait of George Clinton 350 

189. Portrait of John Marshall 351 

190. Portrait of General Mifflin 852 

191. Order OF the Cincinnati 352 

192. Portrait of Bishop Carroll 854 

193. Franklin before the Constitutional Con- 

vention 357 

194. Portrait of Oliver Ellsworth 360 

195. Portrait OF Alexander Hamilton .361 

196. Portrait of llupus Putnam 302 

197. Inauguration of Washington 364 

198. Portrait of Gouverneur Morris 864 

199. Portrait op Washington 365 

200. Portrait op Robert R. Livingston 366 

201. Portrait of Tench Coxe 869 

202. Portrait of General Knox 870 

203. AVayne's Defeat of the Indians 375 

204. Portrait of John Jay 879 

205. Portrait of Fisher Ames 3S0 

206. Portrait of John Adams 883 

207. Portrait of C. 0. Pinckne y 384 



PACE fcu;^ 

208. Portrait of Martha Washington 387 '■ ' 

209. Portrait of Tiio.mas Jefferson 389 

210. Portrait OP Commodore Bainbridge 391 

211. United States Frigate 891 ^ 

212. PoRTRAix of Lieutenant Decatur 392 

213. Mohammedan Soldier 392 

214. Burning of Tijjg Philadelphia at Tripoli.. 393 

215. Portrait of Rufus King 395 

216. Portrait of Aaron 'Burr 896 

217. Portrait of Robert Fulton 398 • 

218. Fulton's first Steamboat. 899 

219. Portrait of William PinkneA' 400 

220. A Felucca Gun-Boat 401 

221. Portrait op John Randolph 403 

222. Portrait of James Madison 4W5 

223. Portrait op General Dearborn :."410 

224. Portrait of Stephen Van Rennsselaer.... fl3 
22.5. Sloop-of-War 415 

226. Portrait of Governor Shelby 417 

227. Plan of Fort Meigs 418 

228. Plan of Fort Sandusky 419 

229. Major Croghan 420 

230. Perry on Lake Erie 421 

231. Portrait of Commodore Perry 423 

232. Portrait op General Pike. 425 

2.3.3. Fort Niagara in 1813 427 

234. Portrait of Captain Lawrence 429 

2.35. Portrait of Commodore Porter 431 

2.36. Portrait op General Brown 432 

237. Map op the Niagara Frontier 434 

238. Portrait of Com.modore Macdonough 435 

239. Plan OP THE Battle op New Orleans 4.39 

240. Portp.ait op W\ C. C. Claiborne 440 

241. Jackson at New Orleans 441 

242. Portrait of James Monroe 447 

243. Capture of Pensacola 449 

244. Portrait ok Edward Livingston 452 

24.5. Portrait of John Quincy Adams 455 

246. Portrait of ])ewitt Clinton 456 

247. Portrait of John C. Calhoun 458 

248. Portrait op General Jackson 460 

249. Portrait op Robert Y. IIayne 463 

250. Portrait op Osceola 466 

251. Map op the Seat op the Seminole AVar 467 

252. Portrait of Martin Van Bl'ren 470 

253. Portrait op "William H. Harrison 474 

254. Portrait of John Tyler 476 

255. Portrait op James K. Polk 479 

256. Portrait of General Scott 485 

2.57. Map of the Region of Taylor's Oper-'^.tions 486 

258. Portrait op John C. Fremont 483 

259. Plan op Intrenchments at Vera Cruz 489 

260. Map of THE Route OF Scott's Army in Mexico 490 

261. Bombardment of Vera Cruz . . . ; 491 

262. Operations near Mexico 493 

263. General Scott Entering THE City of Mexico 495 

264. Portrait of General Taylor 498 

265. Portrait of Henry Clay 500 

266. Portrait OF Millard P^illmore 502 

267. Portrait of Daniel Webster 503 

268. Portrait of Joseph Smith 504 

269. Mormon Emigration 505 

270. Portrait of Professor Morse 507 

271 . Portrait of Dr. Kane 510 

272. Portrait of Franklin Pierce 514 

2T3. Portrait of Santa Anna 515 

274. An Ocean Steamship 516 

27.5. Crystal Palace in New York 517 

276. Portrait of Captain Ingraham 518 

277. Portrait OP James Buchanan 532 

278. Founding New States 537 

279. Portrait of Tiio.mas Jefferson 589 

280. Portrait of John Adams -. 589 

281. Portrait of Dr. Franklin 589 

282. Portrait op Robert R. Livingston 589 

283. Portrait OF Roger Sherman 589 

284. Portrait of Charles Carroll 601 

285. PoBTKAiT or Judge Story 612 



Ife _ » 



H I S T Pt Y 



THE UNITED STATES. 




FIRST PERIOD. 
THE ABORIGINALS. 

CHAPTER I. 



EED JACKET. 



Every cultivated nation had its heroic 

age — a period when its first physical and 

moral conquests were achieved, and when 

rude society, with all its impurities, was fused and refined in the crucible of 

progress. When civilization first set up its standard as a permanent ensign, in 

the western hemisphere, northward of tlie Bahamas and the great Gulf, and 



10 THE ABORIGINALS. 

the contests for possession began between the wild Aboriginals, who thrust no 
spade into the soil, no sickle into ripe harvests, and those earnest delvers from 
the Old World, who came with the light of Christianity, to plant a new 
empire, and redeem the wilderness bj cultivation — then commenced the heroic 
age of America. It ended when the work of the Revolution in the eighteenth 
century was accomplished — when the bond of vassalage to Great Britain was 
severed by her colonies, and Avhen thirteen confederated States ratified a Fed- 
eral Constitution, and upon it laid the broad foundation of our Republic' 

Long anterior to the advent of Europeans in America, a native empire, 
little inferior to old Rome in civilization, flourished in that region of our Con- 
tinent which now forms the south-western portion of our Republic, and the 
adjoining States of Central America. The Aztec Empire, which reached the 
acme of its refinement during the reign of jNIontezuma, and crumbled into frag- 
ments beneath the heel of Cortez, when he dethroned and destroyed that mon- 
arch,' extended over the whole region from the Rio Grande to the Isthmus of 
Darien ; and when the Spaniards came, it was gradually pushing its conquests 
northward, where all was yet darkness and gloom. To human apprehension, 
this people, apparently allied by various ties to the wuld nations of North 
America, appeared to be the most efficient instruments in the hands of Provi- 
nce, for spreading the light of dawning civilization over the whole Continent. 
it, they were not only denied this glorious privilege, but, by the very race 
which first attempted to plant the seeds of European society in Florida, and 
amonor the Mobilian tribes,^ and to shed the illumination of their dim Chris- 
tianity over the dreary region of the North, was their own bright light extin- 
guished. The Aztecs and their neighbors were beaten into the dust of 
debasement by the falchion blows of avarice and bigotry, and nothing remains 
to attest their superiority but the magnificent ruins of their cities and temples, 
and their colossal statuary, which has survived the fury of the Spanish icono- 
clast and the tooth of decay. They form, apparently, not the most insignificant 
atom of the chain of events wdiicli connects the history of the Aboriginal nations 
of America with that of our Republic. The position of the tribes of the 
North is different. From the beginning of European settlements, they have 
maintained, and do still maintain, an important relation to the white people. 

The first inhabitants of a country properly belong to the history of all sub- 
sequent occupants of the territory. The several nations of red or copper- 
colored people who occupied the present domain of the United States, when 
Europeans first came, form as necessary materials for a portion of the history 
of our Republic, as the Frenchmen* and Spaniards,^ by whom parts of the 

territory were settled, and from whom they have been taken by conquest or 

\ 
purcui*se. 

The history of the Indian^ tribes, previous to the formation of settlements 

among them, by Europeans,' is involved in an obscui-ity which is penetrated 

^ Page 360. ' Page 43. 3 Page 29. < Page 180. 

' Page 51. 6 Page 40. '' Before the year 1G07. 



THE ABORIGINALS. l\ 

only by vague traditions and uncertain conjectures. Whence came they ? is a 
question yet unanswered by established facts. In the Old World, the monu- 
ments of an ancient people often record their history. In North America, 
such intelligible records are wanting. Within almost every State and Terri- 
tory remains of human skill and labor have been found,' which seem to attest 
the existence here of a civilized nation or nations, before the ancestors of our 
numerous Indian tribes became masters of the Continent. Some of these 
appear to give indisputable evidence of intercourse between the people of the 
Old World and those of America, centuries, perhaps, before the birth of Christ, 
and at periods soon afterw^ard.'^ The Avhole mass of testimony yet discovered 
does not prove that such intercourse was extensive; that colonies from the 
eastern hemisphere ever made permanent settlements in America, or remained 
long enough to impress their character upon the country or the Aboriginals, Br** 
they existed ; or that a high degree of civilization had ever prevailed on our 
Continent. 

The origin of the Indian tribes is referred by some to the Phoenicians and 
other maritime nations, whose extensive voyages have been mentioned by 
ancient writers, and among Avhom tradition seemed to cherish memories of far- 
off lands beyond the sea, unknown to the earlier geographers. Others per- 
ceive evidences of their Egyptian or Hindoo parentage ; and others find their 
ancestors among the "lost tribes of Israel," who "took counsel to go forth 
into a further country where never mankind dwelt, "^ and crossed from north- 
eastern Asia to our Continent, by way of the Aleutian Islands, or by Beh- 
ring's Straits.* These various theories, and many others respecting settlements 
of Europeans and Asiatics here, long before the time of Columbus, unsu])ported 
as they are by a sufficiency of acknowledged facts, have so little practical value 

' Remains of fortifications, similar in form to those of ancient European nations, have been 
discovered. An idol, composed^of clay and gypsum, representing a man without arms, and in 
all respects reserabUng one found in Southern Russia, was dug up near Nashville, in Tennessee. 
Also fireplaces, of regular structure ; weapons and utensils of copper ; catacombs with mummies • 
ornaments of silver, brass, and copper; walls efforts and cities, and many other things which only 
a people advanced in civilization could have made. The Aboriginals, themselves, have various 
traditions respecting their origin — each nation having its distinct records in the memory. Nearly 
all have traditional glimpses of a great and universal deluge ; and some say their particular pro- 
genitor came in a bark canoe after that terrible event. Tliis belief, with modifications, was current 
among most of the northern tribes, and was a recorded tradition of the half-civilized Aztecs. 
The latter ascribed all their knowledge of the arts, and their religious ceremonies, to a wliite and 
bearded mortal who came among them ; and when his mission was ended, was made immortal by 
the Great Spirit. 

2 A Roman coin was found in Missouri ; a Persian coin in Ohio ; a bit of silver in Genesee 
county, New York, with the year of our Lord, 600, engraved on it; split wood and ashes, thirty 
feet below the surface of the earth, near Fredoniii, New York ; and near Montevideo, South 
America, in a tomb, were found two ancient swords, a helmet and shield, with Greek inscriptions, 
showing that they were made in the time of Alexander the Great, 330 years before Ciirist. Near 
Marietta, Ohio, a silver cup, finely gilded within, was found in an ancient mound. Traces of iron 
utensils, wholly reduced to rust, mirrors of isinglass, and glazed pottery, have also been discovered 
in these mounds. These are evidences of the existence of a race far more civilized than the tribes 
found by modern Europeans. 

3 2 Esdras, xiii. 40-^5. 

The people of north-eastern Asia^ and on the north-west coast of America^ have a near 
resemblance in person, customs, and languages ; and those of the Aleutian Islands present many 
of the characteristics of both. Ledyard said of the people of Eastern Siberia^ " Universally and 
circumstantially they resemble the Aborigines of America." 



12 THE ABORIGINALS. 

for the student of our history, that we will not occupy space in giving a deline- 
ation of even their outlines. There . are**elaborately-written works specially 
devoted to this field of inquiry, and to those the curious reader is referred. 
The proper investigation of such subjects requires the aid of varied and exten- 
sive knowledge, and a far wider field for discussion than the pages of a volume 
like this. So we will leave the field of conjecture for the more useful and 
important domain of recorded history. 

The New World, dimly comprehended by Europeans, afforded materials for 
wonderful narratives concerning its inhabitants and productions. The few 
natives who were found upon the seaboard, had all the characteristics common 
to the human race. The interior of the Continent was a deep mystery, and 
for a lonjr time marvelous stories were related and believed of nations of giants 
and pigmies ; of people with only one eye, and that in the centre of the fore- 
head ; and of whole tribes Avho existed Avithout eating. But when sober men 
penetrated the forests and became acquainted with the inhabitants, it was dis- 
covered that from the Gulf of Mexico to the country north of the chain of 
great lakes which divide the United States and the British possessions, the 
people were not remarkable in persons and qualities, and that a great similarity 
in manners and institutions prevailed over that whole extent of country. 

The Aboriginals spoke a great variety of dialects, but there existed not 
more than eight radically distinct languages among them all, from the Atlan- 
tic to the Mississippi, and westward to the Rocky Mountains, namely : Al- 
gonquin, Huron-Iroquois, Cherokee, Catawba, Uchee, Natchez, 
MoBiLiAN, and Dahcotah or Sioux. These occupied a region embraced 
within about twenty-four degrees of latitude and almost forty degrees of longi- 
tude, and covering a greater portion of the breadth of the north temperate 
zone. 

All the nations and tribes were similar in physical character, moral senti- 
ment, social and political organization, and religious belief. They were all of 
a copper color ; were tall, straight, and well-proportioned ; their eyes black 
and expressive ; their hair black, long, coarse, and perfectly straight ; their 
constitutions vigorous, and their powers of endurance remarkable. Bodily 
deformity was almost unknown, and few diseases prevailed. They were indo- 
lent, taciturn, and unsocial ; brave, and sometimes generous in war ; unflinch- 
ing under torture ; revengeful, treacherous, and morose when injured or 
oifended ; not always grateful for favors ; grave and sagacious in council ; often 
eloquent in speech ; sometimes warm and constant in friendship, and occasion- 
ally courteous and polite. 

The men were employed in. war, hunting and fishing. The women per- 
formed all menial services. In hunting and fishing the men were assiduous 
and very skillful. They carried the knowledge of woodcraft to the highest 
degree of perfection; and the slightest indication, such as the breaking of a 
twig, or the bending of grass, was often sufiicient to form a clew to the pathway 
of an enemy or of game. The women bore all burdens during journeys; 
spread the tents ; prepared food ; dressed skins for clothing ; wove mats for 



THE ABORiaiNALS. 



13 




A WIGWAM. 



beds, made of the bark of trees an^-the skins of animals ; and planted and 
gathered the scanty crops of corn, b^ns^ jjeas, potatoes, 
melons, and tobacco. These constituted *the chief agri- 
cultural productions of the Aboriginals, under the most 
favorable circumstances. In these labors the men never 
engaged; they only manufactured their implements of 
war. Their wigwams, or houses, were rude huts, made 
of poles covered with mats, skins, or bark of trees ; and 
all of their domestic arrangements were very simple. 

And simple, too, were their implements of labor. They were made of stones- 
shells, and bones, with which they prepared their food, made their clothing and 
habitations, and tilled their lands. Their food consisted of a few vegetables, 
and the meat of the deer, buffalo, and bear, generally roasted upon the' 
points of sticks; sometimes boiled in water heated by hot 
stones, and always eaten without salt. Their dress in summer 
was a slight covering around the loins. In winter they were 
clad in the skins of wild beasts,* often profusely ornamented 
with the claws of the bear, the horns of the buffalo, the feathers 
of birds, and the bones of fishes. Their faces were often tat- 
tooed, and generally painted with bright colors in hideous 
devices. Their money was little tubes made of shells, fastened 
upon belts or strung in chains, and called wampum^ It was 
used in traffic, in treaties, and as a token of friendship or alliance, 
belts constituted records of public transactions in the hands of a chief 

There was no written language in all the 
New World, except rude hieroglyphics, or 
picture writings. The history of the 
nations, consisting of the records of warlike 
achievements, treaties of alliance, and 
deeds of great men, was, in the form of 
traditions, carefully handed down from 
father to son, especially from chief to chief 




Wampum 




INDIAN HIEROGLYPHICS.^ 



Children were taught the simple 



' The engraving at the head of this chapter represents some Sioux Indians, in their winter and 
fanciful costumes. 

"^ "Wampum is yet in use, as money, among some of the Western tribes, and is manufactured, 
we believe, as an article of commerce on the sea-shore of one of the counties of New Je^se}^ It is 
made of the clear parts of the common clam-shell. This part being split off, a hole is drilled in it, 
and the form, which is that of the bead now known as the hwjle^ is produced by friction. They are 
about half an inch long, generally disposed in alternate layers of white and bluish black, and 
valued, when they become a circulating medium, at about two cents for three of the black beads, 
or six of the white. They were strung in parcels to represent a penny, three pence, a shilling, 
and five shilUngs, of white; and double that amount in black. A fathom of white was worth 
about two dollars and a halij and black about five dollars. They were of less value at the time of 
our war for independence. The engraving shows a part of a siring and a heU of wampum. 

3 This is part of a record of a war expedition. The figures on the right and leftr — one with a 
gun and the other with a hatchet — denote prisoners taken by a warrior. The one without a head, 
and holding a bow and arrow, denotes that one was killed ; and the figure with a shaded part 
below the cross indicates a female prisoner. Then he goes in a war canoe, with nine companions, 
denoted by the paddles, after which a council is held by the chiefs of the Bear and Turtle tribes, 
indicated by rude figures of these animals on each side of a fire. 



14 



THE ABOEIGINALS. 




INDIAN WEAPONS.-' 




CALUMETS. 



arts practiced among them, sucli as making wampum, constructing bows, 
arrows, and spears, preparing matting and skins for domestic use, and fashion- 
ing rude personal ornaments. 

Individual and national pride prevailed among the Aboriginals. They 
were ambitious of distinction, and therefore Avar was the chief vocation, a.s we 
have said, of the men.' They generally went forth in parties of about forty 
bowmen. Sometimes a half-dozen, like knights- 
errant,'' went out upon the war-path to seek renown in 
combat. Their weapons were bows and arrows, hatch- 
ets (tomahawks) of stone, and scalping-knives of bone. 
Soon after they became acquainted with the Euro- 
peans, they procured knives and hatchets made of 
iron, and this was a great advance in the 
increase of their power. Some wore 
shields of bark ; others Avore skin dresses 
for protection. They were skillful in stratagem, and seldom met 
an enemy in open fight. Ambush and secret attack were their 
favorite methods of gaining an advantage over an enemy. Their 
close personal encounters were fierce and bloody. They made 
prisoners, and tortured them, and the scalps^ of enemies were 
their trophies of war. Peace was arranged by sachems' in council ; 
and each smoking the same "pipe of peace," called cahmiet,^ was 
a solemn pledge of fidelity to the contract. 

With the Indians, as with many oriental nations, women were regarded as 
inferior beings. They were degraded to the condition of abject slaves, and they 
never engaged with the men in their amusements of leaping, dancing, target- 
shooting, ball-playing, and games of chance. They were allowed as spectators, 
with their children, at war-dances around fires, when the men recited the feats 
of their ancestors and of themselves. Marriage, among them, was only a tem- 
porary contract — a sort of purchase — the father receiving presents from the 

1 It was offensive to a chief or warrior to ask him his name, because it imphed that his brave 
deeds were unknown. Red Jacket, the great Seneca chief (whose portrait is at the head of this 
chapter), was asked his name in court, in comphance witli a legal form. He was very indignant, 
and replied, "Look at the papers which the white people keep the most carefiilly" — (land cession 
treaties) — •' they will tell you who I am." Red Jacket was born near Geneva, New York, about 
1750, and died in 1830. He was the last great chief of the Senecas. For a biographical sketch of 
him, see Lossing's " Eminent Americans." 

^ Knights-errant of Europe, six hundred years ago, were men clothed in metal armor, who 
went from countrj'' to country, to win fame by personal combats with other knights. They also 
engaged in wars. For about three hundred years, knights-errant and their exploits formed the 
chief amusement of the courts of Europe. It is curious to trace tlae connection of the spirit of 
knighthood, as exhibited by the one hundred and thirty-five orders that have existed, at 
various times, in the Old World, with some of the customs of the rude Aboriginals of North 
America 

^ a, bow and arrow ; h, a war club ; c, an iron tomahawk ; d, a stone one ; e, a scalping- 
knife. - * 

* They seized an enemy by the hair, and by a sJiiHful use of the knife, cut and tore from the 
top of the head a large portion of the skin. 

^ Sachems were the civil heads of nations or tribes ; chiefs were military leaders. 

^ Tobacco was in general use among' the Indians for smoking, when the white men came. The 
more filthy practice of cheiviwj it was invented by the white people. The calumet was made of 
pipe-clay, and was often ornamented with feathers. 




THE ABORIGINALS. 15 

husband, in exchange for the daughter, who, generally, after being fondled and 
favored for a few months, was debased to the condition of a domestic servant, at 
best. The men had the right to take wives and dismiss them at pleasure ; and, 
though polygamy was not very common, except among the chiefs, it Avas not 
objectionable. Every Indian might have as many wives as he could purchase 
and maintain. The husband might put his wife to death if she proved unfaithful 
to him. The affections were ruled by custom, and those decorous endearments 
and attentions toward woman, which give a charm to civilized society, were 
wholly unknown among the Indians ; yet the sentiment of conjugal love was 
not always wanting, and attachments for life were frequent. There was no 
society to call for woman's refining qualities to give it beauty, for they had but 
few local attachments, except for the burial-places of their dead. 

From the frozen North to the tropical South, their funeral ceremonies 
and methods of burial were similar. They laid their dead, wrapped in skins, 
upon sticks, in the bottom of a shallow pit, or placed 
them in a sitting posture, or occasionally folded them ^^/-^' _rv\ 
in skins, and laid them upon high scaffolds, out of the 
reach of wild beasts. Their arms, utensils, paints, 
and food, were buried with them, to be used on their 
long journey to the spirit-land. By this custom, the 
doctrine of the immortality of the soul was clearly and 

„ ., , , i''. . . , ..,,*' BURIAL-PLACE. 

forcibly taught, not as distmctively spu'itual, but as 

possessing the two-fold nature of matter and spirit. Over their graves they 
raised mounds, and planted beautiful wild-flowers upon them. The Algon- 
quins, especially, always lighted the symbolical funeral pyre, for several nights, 
upon the grave, that the soul might perceive and enjoy the respect paid to the 
body. Relatives uttered piercing cries and great lamentations during the 
burial, and they continued mourning many days. 

Like that of the earlier nations of the world, their religion was simple, with- 
out many ceremonies, and was universally embraced. They had no infidels 
among them. The diiallty of God is the most ancient tenet of Indian faith — 
a prominent tenet, it will be observed, in the belief of all of the more advanced 
oriental nations of antiquity. They believed in the existence of two Great 
Spirits : the one eminently great was the Good Spirit,' and the inferior was an 
Evil one. They also deified the sun, moon, stars, meteors, fire, water, thun- 
der, wind, and every thing which they held to be superior to themselves, but 

' They believed every animal to have had a great original, or father. The first buffalo, the first 
bear, the first beaver, the first eagle, etc., was tlie Manitou of the whole race of the different crea- 
tures. They chose some one of these originals as their special Manitou, or guardian, and hence 
arose the custom of having the figure of some animal for the arms or symbol 
of a tribe, called Mum. For example, each of the Five Xatioxs (see page 12) 
was divided into several tribes, designated The Wolf, The Bear, The Turtle, 
etc., and their respective Mums were rude representations of these animals. 
When they signed treaties with the white people, they sometimes sketched 
outlines of their Mums. The annexed cut represents the totum of Teyenda- 
gages, of the Turtle tribe of the Mohawk nation, as afiQxed by him to a deed. totuji. 

it would be a curious and pleasant task to trace the intimate connection of 
this totomic system with the use of symbolical signet-rings, and other seals of antiquity, and, by suc- 
cession, the heraldic devices of modern times. 




1Q THE ABORIGINALS. 

thcj never exalted their heroes or prophets above the sphere of humanity. 
They also adored an invisible, great Master of life, in diflFerent forms, which 
they called Manilou, and made it a sort of tutelar deity. They had vague 
ideas of the doctrine of atonement for sins, and made propitiatory sacrifices with 
great solemnity. All of them had dim traditions of the creation, and of a great 
deluge which covered the earth. Each nation, as we have observed, had crude 
notions, drawn from tradition, of their own distinct origin, and all agreed that 
their ancestors came from the North. 

It can hardly be said that the Indians had any true government. It was a 
mixture of the patriarchal and despotic. Public opinion and common usage 
were the only laws of the Indian.^ All political power was vested in a sachem 
or chief, who was sometimes an hereditary monarch, but frequently owed his 
elevation to his own merits as a warrior or orator. While in power, he was 
absolute in the execution of enterprises, if the tribe confided in his wisdom. 
Public opinion, alone, sustained him. It elevated him, and it might depose 
him. The ofiice of chief was often hereditary, and its duties were sometimes exer- 
cised even by women. Unlike the system of lineal descent which prevails in 
the Old World, the heir to the Indian throne of power was not the chief's own 
son, but the son of his sister. This usage was found to be universal through- 
out the continent. Yet the accident of birth was of little moment. If the 
recipient of the honor was not worthy of it, the iif/e might remain, but the in- 
Jiuence passed into other hands. This rule might be followed, with benefit, by 
civilized communities. Every measure of importance was matured in council, 
which was composed of the elders, with the sachem as umpire. His decision 
was final, and wherever he led, the whole tribe followed. The utmost decorum 
prevailed in the public assemblies, and a speaker was always listened to with 
respectful silence. 

We have thus briefly sketched the general character of the inhabitants of 
the territory of the United States, when discovered by Europeans. Although 
inferior in intellectual cultivation and approaches to the arts of civilization, to 
the native inhabitants of Mexico^ and South America, and to a race w^hich 
evidently occupied the continent before them, they possessed greater personal 
manliness and vigor than the more southern ones discovered by the Spaniards. 
They were almost all wanderers, and roamed over the vast solitudes of a fertile 
continent, free as the air, and unmindful of the wealth in the soil under their 
feet. The great garden of the western world needed tillers, and white men 
came. They have thoroughly changed the condition of the land and the people. 
The light of civilization has revealed, and industry has developed, vast treas- 
ures in the soil, while before its radiance the Aboriginals are rapidly melting 
hke snow in the sunbeams. A few generations will pass, and no representa- 
tive of the North American Indian will remain upon the earth. 

1 It was said of McGillivray, the half-breed emperor of the Creeks, who died in 1793, that, not- 
withstanding he called iiimself "King of kuigs," and was idolized by his people, "he could neither 
restrain the meanest fellow of his nation from the commission of a crime, nor punish him after he 
had committed it. He might persuade, or advise — all the good an Indian king or cliief can do." 

2 rage 43. 



THE ALGONQUINS. 17 

CHAPTER II. 

THE ALGONQUINS. 

The first tribes of Indians, discovered by the French in Canada,' were in- 
habitants of the vicinity of Quebec, and the adventurers called them Mon- 
tagners, or Mountain Indians, from a range of high hills westward of that city. 
Ascending the St. Lawrence, they found a numerous tribe on the OttaAva 
River, who spoke an entirely different dialect, if not a distinct language. 
These they called Algonquins, and this name was afterward applied to that- 
great collection of tribes north and south of Lakes Erie and Ontario, who spoke 
dialects of the same language. They inhabited the territory now included in 
all of Canada, New England, a part of New York and Pennsylvania, the 
States of New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia, eastern North Car- 
olina above Cape Fear, a large portion of Kentucky and Tennessee, and all north 
and west of these States, eastward of the Mississippi. 

The Algonquin nation was composed of several powerful tribes, tho most 
nnportant of which were tho Knisteneaux and Athajjascas, in the far north, the 
Ottawas, Chippewas, Sacs and Foxes, Menomonees, Miamies, Piankeshaws, 
Pottowatomies, Kickapoos, Illinois, Shawnees, Powhatans, Corees, Nanticokes, 
Lenni- Lenapcs, or Delawarcs, Mohegans, the New England Indians, and tho 
Abenakes. There were smaller, independent tribes, the principal of which 
were the Susquehannocks, on the Susquehanna in Pennsylvania ; the Manna- 
hoacks, in tho hill country between the York and Potomac Rivers, and the 
Monocans, on the head waters of the James River in Virginia. All of these 
tribes were divided into cantons or clans, sometimes so small as to afford only a 
war party of forty bowmen. 

The Knisteneaux yet [1856J inliabit a domain extending across the con- 
tinent from Labrador to the Rocky Mountains, and are the hereditary ene- 
mies of the EsQUiJiAUX. their neighbors of the Polar Circle. The Athapascas 
inhabit a belt of country from Churchill's River and Hudson's Bay to within a 
hundred miles of the Pacific coast, and combine a large number of tribes who 
speak a similar language. They, too, are the enemies of the Esquimaux. The 
extensive domain occupied by these tribes and the Esquimaux, is claimed by 
the British, and is under the control of the Hudson's Bay Company. The 
orginal land of the Ottawas was on the west side of Lake Huron, but they 
were seated upon the river in Canada bearing their name, when the French dis- 
covered them. They claimed sovereignty over that region, and exacted tribute 
from those who passed to or from the domain of tho Hurons.- They assisted 



' Page 48. 

2 Between tlie Ottawas and Hiirons, was a tribe called ]\IississaGn^iics, who appoar to have left tho 
Algoxquixs, and joined the Five Nations, south of Luke Ontario. Kcmnant-s of this tribe are 
still found in Canada. 

3 



18 THE ABORIGINALS. 

the latter in a war with the Five Nations' in 1650, and suffered much. The 
Hurons were almost destroyed, and the Ottawas were much reduced in num- 
})ers. Some of them, Avith the Huron remnant, joined the Chippewas, and, 
finally, the whole tribe returned to their ancient seat [1680] in the northern 
part of the Michigan peninsula. Under their great chief, Pontiac, they were 
confederated with several other Algonquin tribes of the north-west, in an 
attempt to exterminate the white people, in 1763.'- Within a fortnight, in the 
summer of that year, they took possession of all the English garrisons and 
trading posts in the West, except Detroit, Niagara, ^^ and Fort Pitt.^ Peace was 
restored in 1764-5, the confederation was dissolved, and Pontiac took up his 
abode with the Illinois, where he was murdered.^ " This murder,'' says Nicol- 
let, "which roused the vengeance of all the Indian tribes friendly to Pontiac, 
brought about the successive wars, and almost extermination of the Illinois na- 
tion." His broken nation sought ijefuge with the French, and their descendants 
may yet [1856] be found in Canada. 

Those two once powerful tribes, the Chippewas and Pottaavatomies, were 
closely allied by language and friendship. The former were on the southern 
shores of Lake Superior ; the latter occupied the islands and main land on the 
western shores of Green Bay, when first discovered by the French in 1761. 
They afterward seated themselves on the southern shore of Lake Michigan 
[1701], where they remained until removed, l)y treaty, to lands upon the Little 
Osage River, westward of Missouri. They arc now [1856] the most numerous 
of all the remnants of the Algonquin tril^es. The Chippewas and the Sioux, 
west of the Mississippi, are their deadly enemies. 

The Sacs and Foxes are really one tribe. They were first discovered by the 
French at the southern extremity of Green Bay, in 1680. In 1712 the French 
garrison of tAventy men at Detroit,*^' Avas attacked by the Fgxes. The French 
repulsed them, with the aid of the Ottawas, and almost destroyed the assailants. 
They joined the Kickapoos in 1722, in driving the Illinois from their lands on 
the riA'er of that name. The Illinois took refuge Avith the French, and the 
Kickapoos remained on their lands until 1819, when they AA'ent 
to the Avest bank of the Missouri in the vicinity of Fort Leav- 
enworth. The Sacs and Foxes sold their lands to the United 
States in 1830. Black HaAvk, a Sac chief, Avho, Avith his 
people, joined the English in our second war with Great Brit- 
ain,'' demurred, and commenced hostilities in 1832.*^ The In- 
dians Avere defeated, and Black IlaAvk,'^ Avith many of his AA'ar- 

j '• BLACK HAWK. 

riors, were made prisoners. 

Among the very fcAv Indian tribes A\ho haA^e remained upon their ancient 

' Chapter III, p 23. ' Page 205. ^ page 200. '^ Page 198. 

5 He was buried on the site of the city of St. Louis, in ilissouri. " Neither mound nor tablet,"' 
says Parkman, " marked the burial-place of Pontiac. For a mausoleum, a city has risen above the 
forest hero, and the race A\'^hora he hated Avith such burning rancor, trample Avith unceasing foot- 
-steps over his forgotten gr.ivc." 

^ Page 180. 1 Page 409. s Page 463. 

3 This picture is from a plaster-cast of the face of Black HaAvk, taken when lie Avas a prisoner in 
New York, in 1832. See page 4G3. 




THE ALG ON QUINS. 19 

territory, during all the vicissitudes of their race, are the Menomonees, ^vho 
were discovered by the French, upon the shores of Green Bay, in 1699. They 
yet [185GJ occupy a portion of their ancient territory, while tlieir southern 
neighbors and friends, the Winnebagoes, have gone westward of the Mississippi.' 

The MiAMiES and Piankesiiaws inhabited that portion of Ohio lying be- 
tween the Maumec River of Lake Erie, and the ridge which separates the head 
waters of the Wabash from the Kaskaskias. They were called Twightwees by 
the Five Nations, and English. Of all the Western tribes, these have ever 
been the most active enemies of the United States.- They have ceded their 
lands, and are now [1856] far beyond the jMississippi. 

The Illinois formed a numerous tribe, twelve thousand strong, when dis- 
covered by the French. They were seated upon the Illinois River, and consisted 
of a confederation of five families, namely, Kaskaskias, Oahokias, Tamaronas, 
Michigamias, and Peorias. Weakened by internal feuds, the confederacy was 
reduced to a handful, by their hostile neiglibors. They ceded their lands in 
1818, when they immbered only three hundred souls. A yet smaller remnant 
are now [1856] upon lands west of the Mississippi. It can not properly be said 
tliat they have a tribal existence. They are among the many extinct commun- 
ities of our continent. 

The once powerful Shawnees occupied a vast region west of the Alleghan- 
ies,2 and their great council-house was in the basin of the Cumberland River. 
At about the time when the English first landed at Jamestown* [1607], they 
were driven from their country by more southern tribes. Some crossed the 
Ohio, and settled on the Sciota, near the present Chilicothe ; others wandered 
eastAvard into Pennsylvania. The Ohio division joined the Erics and Andastes 
against the Five Nations in 1672. Suifering defeat, the Shawnees fled to 
the country of the CataAvbas, but were soon driven out, and found shelter with 
the Creeks.5 They finally returned to Ohio, and being joined by their Penn- 
sylvania brethren, they formed an alliance with the French against the En- 
glish, and Averc among the most actiA^e allies Avith the former, during the long 
contest knoAvn in America as the French and Indian War. They continued 
hostilities, in connection with the Delawares, even after the conquest of the 
Canadas by the English."' They AA'ere subdued by Boquet in 1763,' and again 
by Virginians, at Point Pleasant, at the mouth of the Great KenaAvha, in 1774.^ 
They aided the British during the RcA^olution, and continued to annoy the 
Americans until 1795, Avhen permanent peace Avas established.' They AA^ere 
the enemies of the Americans during their second Avar Avith Great Britain, a 
part of them fighting Avith the renoAvned Tecumseh. Noav [1856] they are but 

• Tho "Winnebagoes are the most dissolute of all the Indian remnants. In August. 185.'>, a treaty 
was made with them to occupy tlie beautiful country above St. Paul, westward of tho Mississippi, 
between the Crow and Clear Water Eivers. 

- Page 408. 

^ The Alleghany or Appalachian Mountains extend from the Catskills. in tho State of New York, 
in a south-west direction, to Georgia and Alabama, and haA'c been cnhed "the backbone of the 
country." Some geographers extend them to tho "White Mountains of New Hampshire. 

* Page G4. " Page 30. ° Page 203. 
■' Note 7, page 205. * Note 4. page 237. ' Page 374. 



20 THE ABORIGINALS. 

a miserable remnant, and occupy lands south of the Kansas River. The road 
from Fort Independence' to Santa Fc passes through their territory. - 

The PowHATANS constituted a confederacy of more than twenty tribes, in- 
cluding the xVccohannocks and Accomacs, on the eastern shore of the Chesa- 
peake Bay. Powhatan (the father of Pocahontas^), was the chief sachem or 
emperor of the confederacy, when the English first appeared upon the James 
River, in 1G07. He had arisen, by the force of his own genius, from the po- 
sition of a petty chief to that of supreme ruler of a great confederacy. He gov- 
erned despotically, for no man in his nation could approach him in genuine 
ability as a leader and counselor. His court exhibited much barbaric state. 
Throuo-h fear of the English, and a selfish policy, he and his people remained 
nominally friendly to the white intruders during his lifetime, but after his 
death, they made two attempts [1622, 1644] to exterminate the English. The 
Powhatans were subjugated in 1644,^ and from that time they gradually di- 
minished in numbers and importaiv^e. Of all that great confederacy in Lower 
Virginia, it is believed that not one representative on earth remains, or that 
one tongue speaks their dialect. 

On the Atlantic coast, south of the Powhatans, were the Corees, Chcraws, 
and other small tribes, occupying the land once inhabited by the powerful Hat- 
teras Indians. ^ They were allies of the Tuscaroras in 1711, in an attack upon 
the English,'' suffered defeat, and have noAV disappeared from the earth. Their 
dialect also is forgotten. 

Upon the great peninsula between the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays, were 
the Nanticokes. They were early made vassals, and finally allies, on com- 
pulsion, of the Five Nations. They left their ancient domain in 1710. occu- 
pied lands upon the Susquehanna, in Pennsylvania, until the Revolutionary 
War commenced, when they crossed the Alleghanies, and joined the British in 
the Avest. They are now [1856] scattered among many tribes. 

The Original People,'' as the Lexni-Lenapes (who are frequently called Del- 



' United States fort on the Missouri. Santa Fe is in New Mexico, 765 miles south-west of Fort 
Independence. 

2 One of tlie most eminent of the Shawnee chiefs, was Cornstalk, who was generally friendly to 
the Americans, and was always ready to assist in negotiating an honoral;le peace between them and 
his own people. But he cordialh' united witli Logan, the Mingo chief, against the white people in 
1774; and during tlie same l>attlo at Point Pleasant, his voice, stentorian in volume, was frequently 
heard, calling to his men, "Be strong! be strong!" He made his warriors fight without wavering, 
and actually sunk his tomahawk deep into the head of one Avho endeavored to escape. He was 
murdered by some exasperated soldiers at Point Pleasant. When he perceived their intent, he 
calmly said to his son, who had just joined him, " My son, the Great Spirit has seen fit tliat we 
sliould die together, and has sent you hither for that purpose. It is His will ; let us subnut." 
Turning to the soldiers, he received the fatal bullets, and his son, who was sitting near him, was 
shot at the same time. The celebrated Tecumseh— meaning a tiger crouching for his prey — who 
endeavored to confederate all the Western tribes in opposition to the white people, was also a 
Shawnee cliicf. See page 408. 

= Page G6. 4 Pagrp i08. 

5 This tribe numbered about three tliousand ^^■arriors when Raleigh's expedition landed on 
Roanoke Island in 1534; when the English made permanent settlements in that vicinity, eiglity 
years later, they were reduced to about fifteen bowmen. c Pasre 168. 

7 This name has been applied to the whole Algoxquix nation. The Lenni-Lenapes claimed to 
have come from beyond the JNIississippi, conquering a more civilized people on the way, who 
inhabited the great valleys beyond the Alleghany Mountains. 



THE ALGONQUINS. 21 

awares) named themselves, comprised two powerful nations, namelj, the Minsi 
and the Delawares proper. The former occupied the northern part of New 
Jersey, and a portion of Pennsylvania, and the latter inhabited lower New Jer- 
sey, the banks of the Delaware below Trenton, and the whole valley of the 
Schuylkill. The Five Nations subjugated them in 1650. and brought them 
under degrading vassalage. They gradually retreated westward before the tide 
of civilization, and finally a portion of them crossed the Alleghanies. and settled 
in the land of the Hurons,' on the Muskingum, in Ohio. Those who remained 
in Pennsylvania joined the Shawnees,^ and aided the Frencli against the En- 
glish, during the French and Indian War.^ In 1768, they all went over the 
mountains, and the great body of them became friends of the British during the 
Revolution. They were at the head of the confederacy of Western tribes who 
were crushed by Wayne in 1794,^ and the following year they ceded all their 
lands on the Muskingum, and seated themselves near the Wabash. In 1819, 
they ceded those lands also, and the remnant now [1856] occupy a territory 
north of the Kansas River, near its mouth. 

The MoHEGAXS Avere a distinct tribe, on the Hudson River, but the name 
was given to the several independent tribes who inhabited Long Island, and the 
country between the Lenni-Lenapes and the New England Indians.' Of this 
family, the Pequods,*^ inhabiting eastern Connecticut, on the shores of Lono- 
Island Sound, were the most powerful. They exercised authority over the 
Montauks and twelve other tribes upon Long Island. Their power was broken 
by the revolt of Uncas against his chief, Sassacus,^ a short time before the ap- 
pearance of the white people. The Manhattans were seated upon the Hudson, 
in lower Westchester, and sold Manhattan Island, whereon New York now 
stands, to the Dutch.*^ The latter had frequent conflicts with these and other 
River Indians.' The Dutch were generally conquerors. The Mohawks, one 
of the Five Nations,'" were pressing hard upon them, at the same time, and 
several of the Mohegan tribes were reduced to the condition of vassals of that 
confederacy. Peace was effected, in 1665, by the English governor at New 
York. In the mean while, the English and Narragansets had 
smitten the Pequods,'' and the remaining independent Mohe- 
gans, reduced to a handful, finally took up their abode upon the 
west bank of the Thames, five miles below Norwich,'" at a place 
still known as Mohegan Plain. Their burial-place was at Nor- 
W'ich, and there a granite monument rests upon the grave of 
Uncas. The tribe is now almost extinct — "the last of the Mo- 
uNCAs .MONrMK.NT. }jjg,^j^g-' ^yj|| gQQjj slecp wlth hls fathcrs.'^ 

' Pap:8 23. 2 p,,„g i9_ 3 Fourth Period, Chap. XII. * Paje 374. 

^ Pasce 22. " Page 86. '' Patje 87. ^ Page 1.^9. 

° Pago 140. '» Page 23. " Page 87. '= Note 4, page 340. 

" The last known lineal de.scendant of Uncas, named Mazeon. was buried in the Indian cemetery, 
at Norwich, in 1827, when the remnant of the Mohegan tribe, then numbering about sixt}', were 
present, and partook of a cold collation prepared for them by a lady of that city. The most noted 
leaders among the New England Indians known to history, are" Massasoit, the father of the re- 
nowned King Philip; Caunbitant. a very distinguished captain; Hobomok; Canonicus; Miasto- 
nomoh : Ninigret, his cousin ; King Philip, the last of the "Wampanoags ; Canonchet, and Anna- 
wan. We shall meet them in future pages. 




22 THE ABORIGINALS. 

The Aboriginals who inhabited the country from Connecticut to the Saco 
River, were called the New England Indians. The principal tribes were the 
Narragansets in Rhode Island, and on the western shores of Narraganset Bay ; 
the Pokonokets and Wampanoags on the eastern shore of the same bay, and in 
a portion of Massachusetts ; the Nipmucs in the center of Massachusetts ; the 
Massachusetts in the vicinity of Boston and the shores southward; and the 
Pawtuckets in the north-eastern part of Massachusetts, embracing the Penna- 
cooks of New Hampshire. These were divided into smaller bands, having 
petty chiefs. The Pokonokets, for example, Avere divided into nine separate 
cantons or tribes, each having its military or civil ruler, but all holding alle- 
giance to one Grand Sachem. They were warlike, and were continually 
engaged in hostilities with the Five Nations, or with the Mohegans. The 
English and Dutch effected a general peace among them in 1673. Two years 
afterAvard [1675], Metacomet (King Philip) aroused most of the New England 
tribes against the English. A fierce Avar ensued, but ended in the subjugation 
of the Indians and the death of Philip, in 1676.' The power of the Ncav 
England Indians was then completely broken. Some joined the more eastern 
tribes, and others took refuge in Canada, from whence they frequently came to 
the border settlements on errands of rcA^enge.* These incursions ceased Avhen 
the French dominion in Canada ended in 1763.^ When the Puritans came* 
[1620], the New England Indians numl^ered about ten thousand souls; noAv 
[1856] probably not three hundred representatives remain ; and the dialects 
of all, except of the Narragansets, are forgotten. 

EastAvard of the Saco River AA'ere the Abenakes. The chief tribes Avere the 
Penobscots, NorridgeAvocks, Androscoggins, and Passamaquoddies. These, 
Avith the more eastern tribes of the Micmacs and Etchemins, Avere made nom- 
inal Christians by the French Jesuits ;^ and they Avere all firm allies of the 
French until the conquest of Canada by the English, in 1760." , Most of the 
Abenakes, except the Penobscots, Avithdrew to Canada in 1754. A fcAv 
scattered families of the latter yet [1856] dAvell upon the banks of the Penob- 
scot River, and Avanderers are seen on the St. LaAvrence. Like other New 
England tribes, they are rapidly fading, and Avill, doubtless, be extinct before 
the daAvn of another century. 



CHAPTER III. 

THE HURON -IROQUOIS. 

We noAV come to consider the most interesting, in many respects, of all the 
aboriginal tribes of North America, called Iroquois by the French. The pre- 
fix ''Huron" was given, because that people seemed, by their language, to form 

' Page 128. " Pago 130. ' Page 202. * Page 114. ' Page 130. « Page 20.'3. 



THE IIURON-IROQUOIS. 23 

a part of the Iroquois nation, and like them, were isolated in the midst of tho 
Algonquins, Avhen discovered by the Europeans. The great body of the 
Iroquois occupied almost the whole territory in Canada, south-Avest of the 
Ottowa River, between Lakes Ontario, Erie and Huron ; a greater portion of 
the State of New York, and a part of Pennsylvania and Ohio along the south- 
ern shores of Lake Erie. They were completely surrounded by the Algon- 
quins, in whose southern border in portions of North Carolina and Virginia, 
were the Tuscaroras and a few smaller Iroquois tribes.' The Hurons occupied 
the Canadian portions of the territory, and the land on the southern shore of 
Lake Erie, and appeared to be a distinct nation ; but their language was found 
to be identical with that of the Iroquois. The Hurons consisted of four smaller 
tribes, namely, the Wyandots or Hurons proper, the Attiouandirons," tlu^ 
Eries, and the Andastes. The two latter tribes were south of the lake, and 
claimed jurisdiction back to the domains of the Shawnees.^ 

Those "Romans of the Western World," the Five Nations, or Iroquois 
proper, formed a confederacy composed of the Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, 
Oneida, and Mohawk tribes, all occupying lands within the present State of New 
York. They fmcifully called their confederacy the Long House. The eastern 
door was kept by the Mohawks ; the western by the Senecas ; and the Great 
Council fire was Avith the Onondagas, at the metropolis, or chief village, near 
the present city of Syracuse. The French, as Ave have ob.serAxd, gave them 
the name of Iroquois ; the Algonquins called them Mingoes." At Avhat time 
the confederacy was formed, is not knoAvn. It Avas strong and powerful Avhen 
the French discoA'ered thein, in 1609, and they Avere then engaged in bloody 
Avars Avith their kinsmen, the Wyandots." 

1 The Southern Iroquois were the Tuscaroras, Chowans, Meherrins, and Nottoways. The three 
latter were upon the rivers in lower Virginia, Called by their respective names, and Avere known 
under the general title of Tuscaroras. 

* Neutral Nation. Wiien the Hurons and Five Nation's were at war, the Attiouandirons lied 
to the Sandusky, and built a fort for each of the bc41igerents when in that region. But their neu- 
trality did not save them from internal feuds Avhich finally dismembered the tribe. One party 
joined the Wyandots ; the other the Iroquois. 

3 Page 19. 

* Miugoes, Minquas, and Maquas, were terms more particularly applied to the Mohawk tribe, 
who calljd themselves Kayingehaga, " possessors of tho Hint." The confederation assumed thf; 
title of Aquinuschioni, "united people;" or as some say, Konoshioni, "cabin builders." 

5 The time of the formation of the confederation is supposed to have been at about the year 
1539. According to their own tradition, it was about two generations before the white people 
came to trade witli them. Clarke, in his history of Onondaga county, has given, from the lips of an 
old chief of the Onondaga tribe, that beautiful legend of the formation of the great confederacy, 
which forms the basis of Longfellow's Indian Edda, " Hi-a-wat-ha." Centuries ago, the story 
runs, tiie deit.v who presides over fisheries raid streams, came from his dwelling-place in the clouds, 
to visit the inhabitants of earth. He Avas delighted with the land where the tribes that afterward 
formed the confederacy, dwelt ; and having bestowed many blessings on that land, he laid aside his 
Divine character, and resolved to remain on earth. He selected a beautiful residence on the shore 
of Te-ungk-too (Cross lake), and all the people called him Hi-a-wat-ha, "the wise man." After a 
while, the people were alarmed by the approach of a ferocious band of warriors from the country 
north of the great lakes. Destruction seemed inevitable. The inhabitants thronged around the 
lodge of Hi-a-wat-ha, from all quarters, craving his wise advice in this hour of great peril. After 
solemn meditation, he told them to call a grand council of all the tribes. The chiefs and warriors 
from far and near, assembled on tho banks of Lai<o Oh-nen-ta-ha (Onondaga). The council-Hri> 
blazed three days before the venerable Hi-a-wat-ha arrived. He had been devoutly praying, in 
silence, to the Great Spirit, for guidance. Then, with his darling daughter, a virgin of twelve 
years, he entered liis white eanoe, and, to tho great joy of the people, he appeared on the Oh-nen- 



24 THE ABORIGINALS. 

In the year 1649, the Five Nations resolved to strike a final and decisive 
blow against their western neighbors, and, gathering all their warriors, they 
made a successful invasion of the Wyandot, or Huron country. Great num- 
bers of the Wyandots were slain and made prisoners, and the whole tribe was 
dispersed. Some of the fugitives took refuge "vvith the Chippewas ; others 
fled to Quebec, and a few were incorporated into the Iroquois confederacy. 
Yet the spirit of the Wyandots was not subdued, and they claimed and exer- 
cised sovereignty over almost the whole of the Ohio country. They had great 
influence among the Algonquin tribes,' and even as late as the treaty or 
Greenville, in 1795, the principal cession of lands in Ohio to the United 
States was made by the Wyandot chiefs in council." They, too, are reduced to 
a mere remnant of less than five hundred souls, and now [1856] they occupy 
lands on the Neosho River, a chief tributary of the Arkansas. 

Being exceedingly warlike, the Five Nations made hostile expeditions 
against the New England Indians^ in the East, the Ei-ies, Andastes, and 

ta-ha. A great shout greeted him, and as he landed and walked up the bank, a sound like a 
rushing wind was heard ; a dark spot, every moment increasing in size, was descending from the 
clear sky. Fear seized the people ; but Hi-a-wat-ha stood unmoved. The approaching object was 
an immense bird. It came swiftly to earth, crushed the darling daughter of Hi-a-wat-ha — was itself 
destroyed, but the wise man was unharmed. Grief for his bereavement prostrated him in the dust 
for three days. The council anxiously awaited his presence. At length he came : the subject of 
the peril from invaders was discussed, and after deliberating a day, the venerable Hi-a-wat-ha 
arose and said : 

"Friends and Brothers — You are members of many tribes and nations. You have come here, 
many of you, a great distance from your homes. "We have met for one common purpose — to pro- 
mote one common interest, and that is, to provide for our mutual safetj^, and how it shall best be 
accomplished. To oppose these foes from the north bj- tribes, singly and alone, would prove our 
certain destruction. We can make no progress in that way. "We must unite ourselves into one 
common band of brothers ; thus united, we may drive the invaders back ; this must be done, and 
we shall be safe. 

"You, the Mohawks, sitting under the shadow of the "Great Tree,' whose roots sink deep 
into the earth, and whose branches spread over a vast country, shall be the first nation, because 
you are wai'like and mighty. 

"And you, Oneidas, a people who recline your bodies against the ' P]verlasting Stone,' that 
can not be moved, shall be the second nation, because you give wise counsel. 

"And you. Onondagas, who have your habitation at the 'Great Mountain,' and acre over- 
shadowed by its crags, shall be the tliird nation, because you are greatly gifted in speech, and 
mighty in war. 

"And you, Cayugas, a people whose habitation is the 'Dark Forest,' and whose home is every- 
where, shaU be the fourth nation, because of your superior cunning in hunting. 

"And you. Senegas, a people who live in the 'Open Country,' and possess much wisdom, 
shall be the fifth nation, because you understand better the art of raising corn and beans, and 
making cabins. 

"You, five great and powerful nations, must unite and have but one common interest, and no 
Ibe siiall be able to disturb or subdue you. If we unite, the Great Spirit will smile upon 
us. Brothers, these are the w'ords of Hi-a-wat-ha — let them sink deep into your hearts. I have 
said it." 

They reflected for a day, and then the people of the "Great Tree," the "Everlasting Stone," 
the "Great Mountain," the "Dark Forest," and the " Open Countrj-," formed a league like that of 
the Amphyctioni of Greece. The enemy was repulsed, and the Five Kations became the terror 
of the Contine-nt. Then Hi-a-watha said, 

" The Great Master of Breath calls me to go. I have patiently waited his summons. I am 
ready — farewell !" 

Myriads of singing voices burst upon the ears of the multitude, and the whole air seemed filled 
with music. Hi-a-wat-ha, seated in his white canoe, rose majestically above the throng, and as all 
eyes gazed in rapture upon the ascending wise man, he disappeared forever in the blue vault of 
heaven. The music melted into low whispers, like the soft summer breeze ; and there were 
pleasant dreams in every cabin of the Five Nations on that blessed night. 

■ Page 17. 2 Page 3T4. 3 Paw 22. 



THE HURON-IROQUOIS. 



25 



Miamies in the West/ and penetrated to the domains of the Catawbas" and 
Cherokees^ in the South. They subjugated the Eries in 1655, and after a con- 
test of twenty years, brought the Andastes into vassalage. They conquered 
the i\Iiamies* and Ottawas^ in 1057, and made incursions as far as the Roanoke 
and Cape Fear Rivers to the land of their kindred in dialect, the Tuscaroras, in 
1701." Thirty years afterward, having been joined by the Tuscaroras, and 
the name of the confederacy changed to that of the Six Nations, they made 
war upon the Cherokees and Catawbas.' They were led on by Hi-o-ka-too, a 
Seneca chief The Catawbas were almost annihilated by them, after a battle 
of two days. So determined were the Five Nations to subdue the southern 
tribes, that when, in 1744, they ceded a part of their lands to Virginia, they 
reserved a perpetual privilege of a war-path through the territory. 

In the year 1712. the Tuscaroras having been signally defeated by the 
Carolinians,' came northward, and in 1714 joined the Five Nations. From 
that time the confederacy was known as the Six Nations. They Avere gen- 
erally the sure friends of the English and inveterate foes of the French.' 




^(/if^c^/c^^^^ 



They Avere all friends of the British during the Revolution, except a part of 
the Oneidas, amons: whom the influence of the Rev. Samuel Kirkland'" was 



> Page 17. = Page 26. 3 Page 27. ^ Page 17. s Page 17 

6 Page 168. ^ Page 17. s page 168. » Page 192. 

'" Samuel Kirkland was one of the most laborious and sclf-sacrilicing of the earlier missionaries, 
who labored among the tribes of the Six Nations, lie was born at Norwich, Cunncc-tieut, in 
December, 1741. He was educated at Dr. Whcelock's school, at Lebanon, where ho prepared for 
that missionary work in which he labored forty years. His ellbrts were put forlii chielly among 



26 THE ABORIGINALS. 

very powerful, in favor of the Republicans. The Mohawks were the most 
active enemies of the Americans ; and they were obliged to leave the State and 
take refuge in Canada at the close of the Revolution. The others were allowed 
to remain, and now [1856J mere fragments of that great confederation exist, 
and, in habits and character, they are radically changed. The confederacy 
was forever extinguished by the sale of the residue of the Seneca lands in 
1838. In 1715. the confederacy numbered more than forty thousand souls ; 
now [1856J they are probably less than four thousand, most of whom are 
upon lands beyond the Mississippi.' 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE CATAWBAS. 

In that beautiful, hilly region, between the Yadkin and Catawba Rivers, on 
each side of the boundary line between North and South Carolina, dwelt the 
Catawba nation. They Avere south-westward of the Tuscaroras, and were 
generally on good terms with them. They were brave, but not warlike, and 
their conflicts were usually in defense of their own territory. They expelled 
the fugitive Shawnees in 1672,^^ but were overmatched and desolated by the 
w^arriors of the Five Nations^ in 1701. They assisted the white people of 
South Carolina against the Tuscaroras and their confederates in 1712 :■• but 
when, three years afterward, the southern tribes, from the Neuse region to that 
of the St. INIary's, in Florida, and westward to the Alabama, seven thousand 



the Oneidas ; and, during the Revolution, he was active in restraining tliem from an alhance witli 
tlie rest of the confederacy against the Patriots. He was exceedingly useful in treaty-making; for 
he had the entire confidence of the Indians. He died at Paris, in Oneida countj', in February, 
1808, in tlie 67th year of his age. See Lossing's "Eminent Americans" for a more elaborate sketcli. 
' Tlie ciiief men of the Five Nations, known lo the white people, are Garangula, who was 
distinguished toward the close of the seventeenth century for his wisdom and sagacity in council, 
and was of the Onondaga tribe. Logan, whose celebrated reply to a white messenger has been 
preserved by Mr Jefferson, was of tlie Cayuga tribe. To the messenger he said: ''I appeal to any 
white man to say if he ever entered Logan's cabin hungiy, and he gave him no meat; if ever he 
came cold and naked and he clothed him not." Then speaking of the cruelty of the white people, 
who, m cold blood had murdered his fiunily, he said : "They have murdered all the relations of 
Logan — not even sparing my women and children. This called on me for revenge; I have sought 
it. '^ I have killed many. I have tiilly glutted my vengeance. For my country, I rejoice at the 
beams of peace. But do not harbor i be "thought that mine is the joy of fear. Logan never felt 
fear. He will not turn on his heel to save his life. Who is there to mourn for Logan? Not 
one!" Joseph Brant (Thayendanega), was the most celebrated of the Mohawk tribe ; and Red 
Jacket (Sagoyewatha), was a very renowned Seneca, greatly distinguished for his eloquence. 
Cornplauter, who lived till past a century in age, was also a distinguished Seneca chief. Red Jacket 
was very intemperate toward the latter part of his life. On one occasion a lady inquired after his 
children. He had lo.?t fourteen by consumption. Bowing his head, he said : " Red Jacket Avas 
once a great man, and in favor with the Great Spirit. He was a lofty pine among the smaller trees 
of the forest. But after years of glor}', he degraded himself by drinking the fire-water of tlie white 
man. The Great Spirit lias looked upon him in anger, and His lightning has stripped the pine of 
its branches!" 2 Page 19. ^ Page 23. * Page 168. 



THECHEROKEES, 27 

strong, confederated in an attempt to exterminate the Carolinians/ the Cataw- 
bas were among them. 

They were again the active allies of the Carolinians in 1760, Avlicn the 
Cherokees made war upon them,' and they remained true friends of the Avhite 
people afterward. They joined the Americans during the Revolution, and 
have ever since experienced the fostering care of the State, in some degree.^ 
Their chief village was upon the Catawba River, near the mouth of the Fishing 
Creek, in Yorkville district, South Carolina; and there the remnant of the 
nation, numbering less than a hundred souls, are now [1856] living upon a 
reservation, a few miles scj[uare. Their ancient language is almost extinct. 



^ 3 (^— ♦■^W— 



• CHAPTER V. 

THE CHEROKEES. 

Of all the Indian tribes, the Cherokees, who dwelt westward and adjoining 
the Tuscaroras^ and Catawbas,^ among the high hills and fertile valleys, have 
ever been the most susceptible to the influences of civilization. They have been 
properly called the mountaineers of the South. Their beautiful land extended 
from the Carolina Broad River on the east, to the Alabama on the west, includ- 
ing the whole of the upper portion of Georgia from the head Avaters of the Ala- 
tamaha, to those of the Tennessee. It is one of the most ddightful regions of 
the United States. 

These mountaineers were the determined foes of the Shawnees," and after 
many conflicts, they finally drove them from the country south of the Ohio 
River. They joined with the Catawbas and the white people against the Tus- 
caroras in 1712,' but were members of the great confederation against the 
Carolinians in 1715,* which we shall consider hereafter. 

The Five Nations and the Cherokees had bloody contests for a long time. 
A reconciliation was finally efiected by the English about the year 1750, and 
the Cherokees became the allies of the peace-makers, against the French. 
They assisted in the capture of Fort Du Quesne in 1758,^ but their irregular- 
ities, on their return along the border settlements of Virginia, gave the Avhite 
people an apparent excuse for killing two or three warriors. Hatred was en- 
gendered, and the Cherokees soon afterward retaliated by spreading destruction 

' Page 170. 2 Pntje 204. 

^ In 1822, u Catawba warrior made an eloquent appeal to the legislature of South Curohna for 
aid. " I pursued the deer for subsistence," lie said. " but the deer are disnppenring. and I must 
starve. God ordained me for tiie forests, and my ambition is the shade. But the strength of my 
arm decays, and my foot fail me in the chase. The hand that fought for your liberties is now open 
to you for relief" A pension was granted. 

4 Page 25. 5 Page 204. " * Page 19. 

7 Page 1G8. » Page ITO. » Page ISG. 



28 THE ABORIGINALS. 

along the frontiers.' Hostilities continued a greater portion of three years, 
Avhen peace was established in 1761, and no more trouble ensued. 

During the Revolution the Cherokees adhered to the British ; and for eight 
years afterward they continued to annoy the people of the upper country of the 
Carolinas. They were reconciled by treaty in 1791. They were friends of the 
United States in 1812, and assisted in the subjugation of the Creeks.'^ Civili- 
zation was rapidly elevating them from the condition of roving savages, to agri- 
culturists and artisans, when their removal west of the Mississippi was required. 
They had established schools, a printing press, and other means for improve- 
ment and culture, when they Avere obliged to leave their farms and the graves 
of their fathers^ for a new home in the wilderness.^ They are now in a fertile 
country, watered by the Arkansas and its tributaries, and are in a prosperous 
condition. They now [1856] number about fourteen thousand souls. ^ 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE UCHEES. 

Ix the pleasant country extending from the Savannali River, at Augusta, 
westward to Milledgeville, and along the banks of the Oconee and the head 
Avaters of the Ogeechee and Chattahooche. the Europeans found a i-emnant of 
the once powerful nation of the Uciiees. Their language was exceedingly 
harsh, and totally unlike that of any other people on the continent. They 
claimed to be descendants of the most ancient inhabitants of the country, and 
took great pride in the fact ; and they had no tradition of their ever occupy- 
ing any other territory than the domain on which they were found. They, 
too, have been driven beyond the Mississippi by the pressure of civilization, 
and have become partially absorbed by the Creeks, Avith whom less than a 
thousand souls yet [1856J remain. They are, in fact, an extinct nation, and 
their lang-uase is almost forgotten. 



J Page 204. ^ P'''ge 428. 

3 A native Cherokee, named by tlie white people, George Guess (Sequoyah), who was ignorant 
of every language but his own, seeing boolcs in the missionary schools, and being told that the 
characters represented the words of the spoisen English language, conceived the idea of forming a 
written language for his people. He first made a separate character for each word, but this made 
the whole matt"cr too voluminous, and he formed a syllabic alphabet of eighty-five characters. It 
was soon ascertained that this was sufficient, even for the copious language of the Cherokees, and 
this syllabic alphabet was soon adopted, in the preparation of books for the missionaiy schools. In 
182G,"a newspap-r, called the Cherokee Phcenix. jirinted in the new characters, was established. 
Many of tiie native Cherokees are now well educated, but the great body of the natives are in ig- 
norance. 

■* Note 4, page 32. 



THE MOBILIAN TRIBES. 29 

CHAPTER VII. 

THENATCHEZ. 

Of this once considerable nation, -svho inhabited the borders of the Missis- 
sippi, where a modern city now perpetuates their name, very little is known. 
When first discovered by the French, they occupied a territory about as large 
as that inhabited by the Uchees. It extended north-easterly from the jMissis- 
sippi along the valley of the Pearl River, to the upper waters of the Chickasa- 
haw. For a long time they were supposed to belong to the nation of Mobilian 
tribes, by whom they were surrounded, but their language proved them to be a 
distinct people. They were sun-worshippers; and from this circumstance, 
some had supposed that they had once been in intimate communication with 
the adorers of the great luminary in Central and South America. In many 
things they were much superior to their neighbors, and displayed signs of the 
refinement of a former more civilized condition. They became jealous of the 
French on their first appearance upon the Mississippi, and finally they con- 
spired, with others, to drive the intruders from the country. The French fell 
upon, and almost annihilated the nation, in 1730. They never recovered from 
the shock, and after maintaining a feeble nationality for almost a century, they 
have become merged into the Creek confederacy. They now [1856J number 
less than three hundred souls, and their language, in its purity, is unknown. 



^ « » » »■ 



C H A P T E P. Yin. 

THE MOBILIAN TRIBES. 

Like the Algonquins and Iroquois nations, the Mobilian was composed of 
a great number of tribes, speaking different dialects of the same language. 
Their territory Avas next in extent to that of the Algonquins.' It stretched 
along the Gulf of IMexico, from the Atlantic to the Mississippi, more than six 
hundred miles ; up the Mississippi as for as the mouth of the Ohio ; and along 
the Atlantic to Cape Fear. It comprised a greater portion of the present State 
of Georgia, the whole of Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi, and parts of South 
Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky. The nation was divided into three grand 
confederacies of tribes, namely, Muscogees or Creeks Choctaws, and Chick- 
asaws. 

' Page 17. 



30 



THE ABORIGINALS. 




SOUTHERN INDIANS. 



The Creek Confederacy extended from the 
Atlantic Avestward to the high lands which sep- 
arate the waters of the Alabama and Tombigbee 
Rivers, including a great portion of the States of 
Alabama and Georgia, and the whole of Florida. 
Oglethorpe's first interviews' Avith the natives at 
Savannah, were with people of this confederacy. 
The Yamassees, or Savannahs of Georgia and 
South Carolina, and the Seminoles of Florida, were of the Creek confederacy. 
The latter were strong and warlike. They were at the head of the Indian 
confederacy, to destroy the white people, in 1715.'^ When the general dis- 
persion followed that abortive attempt, the Yamassees took refuge with the 
Spaniards of Florida. Small bands often annoyed the white frontier settle- 
ments of Georgia, but they Avere not engaged in general hostilities until the 
Revolution, Avhen the Avhole Creek confederacy^ took part with the British. 

The most inveterate and treacherous enemy of the Avhite people, have ever 
been the Seminoles. Bands of them often went out upon the Avar-path, with 
the Yamassees, to slay the pale-faces. They joined the British in 1812-14 ; 
and in 1817 they renewed hostilities.^ They were subdued by General Jack- 
son, and afterward remained comparatively quiet until 1835, Avhen they again 
attacked the Avhite settlements.^ They Avere subjugated in 1842, after many 
lives and much treasure had been sacrificed.^ A few of them yet [1856] 
remain in the CA-erglades of Florida, but a greater portion of the tribe have 
gone west of the Mississippi, Avith the other members of the Creek confederacy. 
The Creeks proper now [1856] number about twenty-four thousand souls. 
The number of the whole confederacy is about thirty thousand. They occupy 
lands upon the Arkansas and its tributaries, and are among the most peaceable 
and order-loving of the banished tribes. 

In the beautiful country bordering upon the Gulf of Mexico, and extending 
Avest of the Creeks to the Mississippi, lived the ChoctaAvs. They were an agri- 
cultural people when the Europeans discovered them ; and, attached to home 
and quiet pursuits, they have ever been a peaceful people. Their wars haA^e 
ahvays been on the defensive, and they never had public feuds Avith either their 
Spanish, French, or English neighbors. They, too, have been compelled to 
abandon their native country for the uncultivated wilderness west of Arkansas, 
betAveen the Arkansas and Red Rivers. They now [1856] number about two 
thousand souls. They retain their peaceable character in their new homes. 

The ChickasaAV tribe inhabited the country along the Mississippi, from the 
borders of the ChoctaAV domain to the Ohio RiA^er, and eastAvard beyond the Ten- 
nessee to the lands of the Cherokees^ and Shawnees.^ This warlike people were 
the early friends of the English, and the most inveterate foes of the French, 



' Pao:e 102. 2 pa<re 170. 

' This confodcrac}' now [185G] consists of the Creeks proper, Seminoles, Natchez, Hichitties, 
and Alabamas. The Creeks, like many other tribes, claim to be the Original People. 

■• Page 448. '' Page 4G6. 6 Page 468. '^ Page 27. ^ Page 19. 



THE DAIICOTAII OR SIOUX TRIBES. 31 

Avho had twice [1736-1740] iiivadctl tlieir country. They adhered to the 
British during the Revolution, but since that time they have held friendly rela- 
tions with the Government of the United States. The remnant, about six 
thousand in number, are upon lands almost a hundred leagues Avestward of the 
Mississippi. 

Thus, with almost chronological brevity, we have given an outline sketch 
of the history of the Aljoriginal nations with whom the first European settlers 
in the United States became acquainted. They have now no legal habitation 
eastward of the Mississippi ; and the fragments of those powerful tribes who 
once claimed sovereignty over twenty-four degrees of longitude and twenty 
degrees of latitude, are noAV [1856] compressed within a quadrangle of about 
nine deo^rees, between the Red and Missouri Rivers.' Whether the grave of 
the last of those great tribes shall 'be within their present domain, or in some 
valley among the crags of the Rocky I\Iountains, expediency will hereafter 
determine. 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE DAHCOTAH OR SIOUX TRIBES. 

The French were the earliest explorers of the regions of the Middle and 
Upper Mississippi, and they found a great number of tril^es west of that river 
who spoke dialects of the same language. They occupied the vast domaui from 
the Arkansas on the south, to the western tributary of Lake Winnipeg on the 
north, and westward to the eastern slopes of the Rocky IMountams. These 
have been classed into four grand divisions, namely, the Winxebagoes, who 
inhabited the country between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi, among the 
Algonquins ;- the Assinniboins and Sioux proper, the most northerly nation ; 
the MiNETAREE Group in the Minnesota Territory, and the Southern Sioux, 
who dwelt in the country between the Arkansas and Platte Rivers, and whose 
hunting-ground extended to the Rocky ^lountains. 

The most uneasy of these tribes were the Winnebagoes, who often attacked 
the Sioux west of the Mississippi. They generally lived on friendly terms 
with the Algonquins, after their martial spirit was somewhat subdued by the 
Illinois, who, in 1640, almost exterminated them. They were enemies to the 

' Mr. Bancroft [IT., 253] after consulting the most rclialjle authorities on the suhject, makes tho 
foIlo\\ing estimate of the entire Aboriginal population in 1650- Algonquins, 90,000; Eastern 
Sioux, less than 3,000 ; Iroquois, including their southern kindred, about 17,000; Catawbas, 3,000, 
Cherokecs (now more numerous than ever), 12,000; ilobilian tribes, 50,000; Uchees. 1,000; 
Natchez, 4,000 — m all, 180,000. These were the only nations and tribes then known. With the 
expansion of our territory westward and southward, we have embraced numerous Indian nations, 
some of them quite populous, until the number of tlie estunate above given has been more than 
doubled, according to the late census. 

* Page 17. 



32 THE ABORIGINALS 

United States during the second war Avith Great Britain/ and they confeder- 
ated with the Sacs and Foxes in liostilities against the white people, under 
Black Hawk, in 1832.^ The tribe, now [1856] less than four thousand strong, 
are seated upon the Mississippi, about eighty miles above St. Paul, the capital 
of Minnesota. Fear of the white people keeps them quiet. 

In the cold, wet country of the North, the Assiniboins yet inhabit their na- 
tive land. Having separated from the nation, they are called "rebels.'' Their 
neighbors, the Sioux proper, were first visited by the French in 1660, and 
have ever been regarded as the most fierce and warlike people on the continent. 
They also occupy their ancient domain, and are now [1856] about eighteen 
thousand strong. 

Further westward are the Minetarees. Mandans. and Crows, who form the 
MiXETAREE Group. They are classed with the Dahcotahs or Sioux, although 
the languages have only a slight affinity. The Minetarees and Mandans num- 
ber about three thousand souls each. They cultivate the soil, and live in vil- 
lages. The Crows number about fifteen hundred, and are wanderers and 
hunters. The Mandans are very light-colored. Some suppose them to be 
descendants of a colony from Wales, who, it is believed, came to America 
under Madoc, the son of a Welsh prince, in the twelfth century.^ 

There are eight in numl^er of the Southern Sioux tribes, namely, the 
Arkansas, Osages, Kansas, lowas, Missouries, Otoes, Omahas, and Puncahs. 
They are cultivators and hunters. They live in villages a part of the year, 
and are abroad upon their hunting-grounds during the remainder. Of these 
tribes, the Osages are the most warlike and powerful. All of the Southern 
Sioux tribes are upon lands watered by the Missouri and the Platte, and their 
tributaries. 



CHAPTER X. 

THE EXTREME WESTERN TRIBES. 

WiTHix a few years, our domain has been widely expanded, and in our 
newly-acquired possessions on the borders of Mexico and the Pacific coast, and 
the recently organized Territories in the interior of the continent, are numer- 
ous powerful and warlike tribes,^ of whom little is known, and whose history 

' Page 260. a Page 287. 

° It is said that Madoc, son of Prince Owen Gwignedd, sailed from "Wales, with ten ships and 
three hundred men, at about the jf-ear 1170, on an explorinsr voyage, and never returned. Manv 
learned conjectures have been expressed, and among them the belief that the expedition reached 
the American continent, and became the progenitors of the Mandans, or White ludiaus, of our 
western plams. 

4 The whole number of Indians witiiin the present limits of the United States, in 1853, is 
reported in the census to be a little more than 400.000. There are about 17,000 in the States east- 
ward of the Mississippi, principally in New York, Michigan, and Wisconsin ; the remainder, con- 
sisting of Cherokees, Choctaws, and Seminoles, being in North Carolina, Mississippi, and Elorida. The 



THE EXTREME WESTERN TRIBES. 33 

has no connection with that of the people of the United States, except the fact 
that they Avere original occupants of the soil, and that some of them, especially 
the California and Oregon Indians, yet [1856] dispute our right to sovereignty. 
Of these, the Comanches and Apaches of California are the most warhke. The 
Pawnees upon the Great Plains toward the Rocky Mountains are very numer- 
ous, but not so warlike : and the Utahs, among the Wasatch and neigliboring 
ranges, are strong in numl^ers. Further northward and westward are the 
Blackfeet, Crow, Snake, Nezperces, and Flathead Indians, and smaller clans, 
with petty chiefs, whose domains stretch away toward the Knisteneaux and 
Esquimaux on the extreme north. 

These tribes are rapidly fading in the light of modern civilization, and are 
destined to total annihilation. The scythe of human progress is steadily cut- 
ting its swathes over all their lands ; and the time is not far distant when the 
foot-prints of the Indians will be no more know^n within the domain of our Re- 
public. In future years, the dusky son of an exile, coming from the flir-off 
borders of the Slave Lake, will be gazed at in the streets of a city at the mouth 
of the Yellow Stone, with as much Avonder as the Oneida woman, with her blcie 
cloth blanket and bead-work merchandize is now [1856] in the city of New 
York. So the Aboriginals of our land are passing away, and even now they 
may chant in sorrow : 

"We, tlie rightful lords of yore, 
Are the rightfiil lords no more ; 
Like the silver mist, we fail, 
Like the red leaves on the gale — 
Fail, like shadows, when the dawning 
"Waves the bright flag of the morning." 

J. McLellan, Jr. 

" I will weep for a season, in bitterness fed. 
For my kindred are gone to the hills of the dead ; 
But they died not of hunger, or lingering decay — 
The hand of the white man hath swept them away." 

Henry Rowe ScnooLCRAPT. 



number in Minnesota and along the frontiers of the Western States and Texas (most of them emi- 
grants from the countrj' eastward of the Mississippi), is estimated at 110,000. Those on the Plains 
and among the Rocky Mountains, not within anv organized Territorv, at G3.000; in Texas, at 
29,000 ; in New Mexico, at 45,000 ; in California, at 100,000 ; in Utah, at 12,000 ; in Oregon and 
Washington TeiTitories, at 23,000. For more minute accounts of the Indians, see Heckewelder's 
"History of the Indian Nations;"' Schoolcraft's "Algic Researcliesf' M'Kiiiney's "History of the 
Indian Tribes;" Drake's "Book of the Indians;" Catlin's "Letters and Notes." 

3 




CHAPTER 



SCANDINAVIAN VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES. 



AMERIGO VESPUCCI. 



One of the most interesting of the un- 
. solved problems of history, is that which re- 
lates to the alleged discovery of America hj mariners of north- 
ern Europe, almost five hundred years before Columbus left 
Palos, in Spain, to accomplish that great event. The tales and 
poetry of Iceland abound with intimations of such discoveries ; 
and records of early voyages from Iceland to a continent south- 
westward of Greenland, have been found. Tliesc, and the re- 
sults of recent investigations, appear to prove, by the strongest 
circumstantial evidence, that the New England' coast was vis- 
ited, and that settlements thereon were attempted by Scandi- 
navian navigators, 2 almost five centuries before the great Genoese 
undertook his first voyage in quest of a western passage to 
India. 




1 The States of our Union eastward of New York are collectively called New England. P. 74. 

2 The ancients called the territory which contains modern Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Lapland, 
Iceland, Finland, etc., by tlie general name of Scandinavia. 



SCANDINAVIAN VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES. 



6b 




NORM AX SUIP. 



The navigators of northern Europe were remarkable for their boldness and 
perseverance. They discovered Iceland in the year 860, and colonized it. 
In 890 they colonized Greenland, and planted colonies there also. There was 
traffic, friendly and lucrative, between the colonists of Iceland and Greenland, 
and the parent Norwegians and Danes, as early as the year 950, and no mar-.- 
iners were so adventurous as these Northmen. In 
the year 1002, according to an Icelandic chronicle, a 
Norwegian vessel, commanded by Captain Lief, sailed 
from Iceland for Greenland. A gale drove the voy- 
agers to the coast of Labrador. They explored the 
shores soutliward to the region of a genial climate, 
where they found noble forests and abundance of 
grapes. This, it is supposed, was the vicinity of 
Boston. Other voyages to the new-found land were 

afterward made by the adventurous Scandinavians, and they appear to havo 
extended their explorations as far as Rhode Island — perhaps as far south a.; 
Cape May. 

It is further asserted that settlements in that pleas- 
ant climate were attempted, and that the child of a Scan- 
dinavian mother was born vipon the shore of Mount Hope 
Bay, in Rhode Island.* In the absence of actual charts 
and maps, to fix these localities of latitude and longitude, 
of course they must be subjects of conjecture only, for 
these explorers left no traces of their presence here, un- 
less it shall be conceded that the round tower at New- 
port,'^ about the origin of Avhich histtoy and tradjtion arc 
silent, was built by the Northmen. ", . _;.' 

The period of this alleged discovery A^^thjit of the dark ages, when ig- 
norance brooded over Europe, like thick night. . sinformation of these voyages 
seems not to have spread, and no records of intei^ourse Avith a western conti- 
nent later than 1120, have been found. The great discovery, if made, was for- 
gotten, or remembered only in dim traditionary talcs of the exploits of the old 
" Sea-Kings"'^ of the North. For centuries afterward, America was an un- 




TOWER AT NEWPORT. 



■ The old chronicle referred to says that Gudrida, wife of a Scandinavian navigator, gave birth 
to a child in America, to whom she gave the name of Snorre ; and it is further asserted that Ber- 
tel Thonvalsden, the great Danish sculptor, was a descendant of this early wliite American. Tiio 
records of these voyages were compiled by Bishop Thorlack, of Iceland, who was also a descendant 
of Snorre. 

2 This structure is of unhewn stone, laid in mortar made of the gravel of the soil around, and 
■oyster-shell lime. It is a cylinder resting upon eight round columns, twenty-three feet in diameter, 
and twenty-four feet in height It was originally covered witii stucco. It seems to have stood 
there when the white people first visited Rhode Island, and the Narraganset Indians, it is as- 
serted, had no tradition of its origin. There can be httle doubt, all things considered, of its having 
been constructed by those northern navigators, who made attempts at settlement in that vicinity. 

3 This name was given to bold adventurers of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, who rebelled 
against Gorm the Old of Norway, and Harold Fairhair of Denmark, their conquerors, forsook their 
country, settled upon the islands of the North Sea, and Greenland, and from thence went forth- 
upon piratical expeditions, even as far south as the pleasant coasts of France. They trafBcked, as 
well as plundered; and finally sweeping over Denmark and Germany, obtained possession of soma 



3G DISCOVERIES. [1492. 

known region. It had no place upon maps, unless as an imaginary island 
without a name, nor in the most acute geographical theories of the learned. 
When Columbus conceived the grand idea of reaching Asia by sailing westward, 
no whisper of those Scandinavian voyages was heard in Europe. 



CHAPTER 11. 

SPANISH VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES. 

The first half of the fifteenth century was distinguished for great commer- 
cial activity. Sluggish Europe was just awaking from its slumber of centuries, 
and maritime discoveries were prosecuted with untiring zeal by the people 
inhabiting the great south-western peninsula covered by Spain, Portugal, and 
France. The incentives to make these discoveries grew out of the political 
condition of Europe, and the promises of great cgmmercial advantages. The 
rich commerce of the East centered in Rome, when that empire overshad- 
owed the known world. When it fell into fragments, the Ralian cities con- 
tinued their monopoly of the rich trade of the Indies. Provinces which had 
arisen into independent kingdoms, became jealous of these cities, so rapidly 
outstripping them in power and opulence ; and Castile and Portugal, in par- 
ticular, engaged in efforts to open a direct trade with the East. The ocean was 
the only highway for such commerce, toward which the rivals could look with 
a hope of success. The errors of geographical science interposed great obsta- 
cles. Popular belief pictured an impassable region of fire beyond Cape Baja- 
dor, on the coast of Africa ; but bold navigators, under the auspices of Prince 
Henry of Portugal, soon penetrated that dreaded latitude, crossed the torrid 
zone, and, going around the southern extremity of Africa, opened a pathway 
to the East, through the Indian Ocean. 

The Portuguese court at Lisbon soon became a 
point of great attraction to the learned and adven- 
turous. Among others came Christopher Columbus, 
the son of a wool-carder of Genoa, a mariner of 
great experience and considerable repute, and then 
in the prime of life. In person he was tall and 
commanding, and, in manners, exceedingly winning 
and graceful, for one unaccustomed to tlie polish of 
courts, or the higher orders in society. The rudi- 
coLUMBus. ments of geometry, which he had learned in the 

iif the best portions of Ganl. They finally invaded the British Island.s, and placed Canute upon 
tlie throne of Alfred. It was among these people that chivalry, as an institution, originated ; and 
back to tliose " Sea-Kings" we may look for the hardiest elements of progress among the people 
■of tl)e United States. 




1G09.] SPANISH VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES. 37 

university of Pavia, had been for years working out a magnificent theory in 
his mind, and he came to Lisbon to seek an opportunity to test its trutli. 

Fortune appeared to smile beneficently upon Columbus, during his early 
residence in Lisbon. He soon loved and married the daughter of Palestrello. 
a deceased navigator of eminence, and he became possessed of nautical papers 
of great value. They poured new light upon his mind. His convictions 
respecting the rotundity of the earth, and the necessity of a continent in the 
Atlantic Ocean, to balance the land in the eastern heiuisphere ; or at least a 
nearer approach of eastern Asia to the shores of western Europe, than geo- 
grapliical science had yet revealed, assumed the character of demonstrated 
realities. He was disposed to credit the narratives of Plato and other ancient 
writers, respecting the existence of a continent beyond the glorious, but long- 
lost, island of Atlantis, in the waste of waters westward of Europe. He was 
convinced that Asia could be reached much sooner by sailing westward, than 
by going around the Cape of Good Hope.^ He based his whole theory upon 
the fundamental belief that the earth was a terraqueous globe, which might be 
traveled round from east to west, and that men stood foot to foot at opposite 
points. This, it should be remembered, was seventy years before Copernicus 
announced his theory of the form and motion of the planets [1543], and one 
hundred and sixty years [1633] before Galileo was compelled, before the 
court of the Inquisition at Rome, to renounce his belief in the diurnal revolu- 
tion of the earth. 

A deep religious sentiment imbued the whole being of Columbus, and he 
became strongly impressed with the idea that there were people beyond the 
waste of waters westward, unto whom he was commissioned by heaven to 
carry the Gospel.'* With the lofty aspirations which his theory and his faith 
gave him, he prosecuted his plans with great ardor. He made a voj^age to 
Iceland, and sailed a hundred leagues beyond, to the ice-fields of the polar cir- 
cle. He probably heard, there, vague traditions of early voyages to a western 
continent,' which gave strength to his own convictions ; and on his return, he 
laid his plans first before his countrymen, the Genoese (who rejected them), 
and then before the monarchs of England' and Portugal. 

The Portuguese monarch appeared to comprehend the grand idea of Colum- 
bus, but it was too lofty for the conceptions of his council and the pedantic 
wise men of Lisbon. For a long time Columbus was annoyed by delays on the 
part of those to whose judgment the king deferred; and attempts were meanly 
and clandestinely made to get from Columbus the information Avhich he pos- 
sessed. While awaiting a decision, his wife died. The last link that bound 
him to Portugal was broken, and, taking his little son Diego by the hand, he 

' This point was first discovered by Diaz, a Portutjucso navigator, who named it Stormv Capo. 
But Kin^ John, believing it to be that "remote extremity of Africa so long sought, named it Cape 
of Good Hope. Vasco de Gama passed it in 1-497, and made his way to the East Indies bej^ond. 

2 His name was suggestive of a mission. Christo or Christ, and Colombo, a pigeon — carrier- 
pigeon. By this combination of significant words in his name, he believed himself to be a Christ. 
or Gospel-hearer, to the heathen, and he often signed his name Christo-fcrcns. or Christ-bearer. 

i Page 34. ■• Pago -iG. 



DISCOVERIES. 



[1492 



departed on foot to lay liis proposition before Ferdinand and Isabella,' the 
monarchs of Spain — occupants of the united thrones of Arragon and Castile. 

Very poor, and greatly dispirited, Columbus arrived at the gate of the 
monastery of Rabida, near the little port from whence he afterward sailed, and 
begged food and shelter for himself and child. The good Father Marchena 
received him kindly, entered warmly into his plans, and was of essential service 
to him afterward. Through him Columbus obtained access to the court ; but 
the war with the Moors, then raging, delayed an opportunity for an audience 
with the monarchs for a long time. Yet he Avas not idle. He employed him- 
self in the alternate pursuits of science, and engagements in some of the military 
campaigns. He was continually treated with great deference by the court and 
nobility, and at length his importunities were heeded. A council of the learned 
men of the nation was convened at Salamanca, to consider his plans and propo- 
sitions.^ The majority pronounced his scheme vain and impracticable, and 
unworthy of the support of the government. But a minority of the council, 
wiser than the rest, did not acquiesce in this decision, and, with Cardinal Men- 
doza and other officers of government, they encouraged the navigator by prom- 
ises of their continual support. But ho became disgusted by procrastination, 
and abandoning the hope of royal aid, he applied to two wealthy dukes for 
assistance. They refused, and he left with a determination to lay his plans before 
the King of France. 

Columbus had been encouraged by Father INIar- 
chena (who had been Isabella's confessor.),' and through 
his intercession, the navigator was recalled before he 
had entered France. He sought and obtained a per- 
sonal interview with the queen. To her he revealed 
all his plans ; told her of the immense treasures that 
lay hidden in that far distant India* which might be 
easily reached by a shorter way, and pleaded eloquently 
for aid in his pious design of carrying the Gospel to the 
heathen of unknown lands. The last appeal aroused 
the religious zeal of Isabella, and with the spirit of the 
Crusaders,* she dismissed Columbus with the assurance 

' Isabella was a sister of the profligate Honry the Fourth of Castile and Leon. She was a pious, 
virtuous, and high-minded -woman, then almost a phenomenon in courts. She was of middle size, 
and well formed, with a fair complexion, auburn hair, and clear, blue eyes. 

2 See the picture at the head of this chapter. The Council was composed of the professors of 
tlie university, various dignitaries of the Church, and learned friars. They were nearly all preju- 
iliced against the poor navigator, and he soon discovered that ignorance and bigotry would defeat 
his purposes. 

3 All Roman Catholics are obliged to confess their sins to a priest. Rich and titled persons 
often had a priest confessor for themselves and their families exclusively. 

4 Marco Polo and other travelers had related wonderful stories of the beauty and wealth 
of a country beyond the limits of geographical knowledge, and had thus inflamed the avarice and 
ambition of the rich and powerful. The country was called Zipangi, and also Cathay. It included 
<,'lnna and adjacent islands. 

5 About 700 years ago, the Cliristian powers of Europe fitted out expeditions to conquer 
Palestine, with the avowed object of rescuing the sopulcher of Jesus, at Jerusalem, from the hands 
of the Turks. These were called crusades — holy ivars. Tlie lives of two millions of people were 
lost in them. 




IS^VBELLA. 



1609.] SPANISH VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES. 39 

that he should have her aid in fitting out an exploring expedition, even if it should 
require the pawning of her crown jewels to obtain the money. And Isabella was 
faithful to her promise. She fitted out two caravels (liglit coasting ships), and 
Columbus, l)y the aid of friends, equipped a third and larger one. AVith this little 
fleet, bearing one hundred and twenty persons, he left Palos, on the Tinto River, 
in Andalusia, on Friday, the Sdof August, 1492, to explore the stormy Atlantic' 

Columbus started on that perilous voyage without a reliable chart for his 
guidance, and no director in his course but the sun and stars, and the imperfect 
mariner's compass, then used only by a few in navigating the pleasant seas of 
the Old AYorld. After various delays at the Canary Islands, they left them in 
the dim distance behind, on Sunday, the 9th of September. The broad At- 
lantic, mysterious and unknown, was before them. A voyage of great trial for 
tlie navigator was now fairly entered upon. His theory taught him to believe 
that he would reach Asia in the course of a few days. But weeks wore away ; 
the needle^ became unfaithful ; alarm and discontent prevailed, and several 
times his followers were on the point of compelling him to tarn back. 

One pleasant evening (the 11th of October), the perfumes of flowers came 
upon the night breeze, as tokens of approach to land. The vesper hymn to the 
Virgin was sung, and Columbus, after recounting the blessings of God thus fiir 
manifested in the voyage, assured the crcAvs that he confidently expected to see 
land in the morning. Yet they hesitated to believe, for twice before they had 
been mocked by other indications of land 
being near.^ On the high poop of his 
vessel the great navigator sat watching 
until midnight, when he saw the glim- 
mer of moving lights upon the verge of 
the horizon. He called others to con- 
firm his vision, for he was fearful of 
mistake. They, too, perceived blazing 
torches, and at dawn the next morning 
their delighted eyes saw green forests .j^, ^^^ ^^, columbus. " 

stretchincT along the horizon: and as 

they approached, they were greeted by the songs of birds and the murmur of 
human voices. 




' Columbus was appointed high-admiral of all S':'as which he might discover, with the attendant 
honors. Also viceroy of all lauds discovered. He was to have one-tenth of all profits of the first 
voyage, and by contributing an eighth of the expense of future voyages, was to have an eighth of 
all the profits. Although Isabella paid the whole expense, the contract was signed, also, by her 
husband. 

2 Needle, or pointer, of tho mariner's compass. This instrument was first known in Europe, at 
Amalli, about 1302. The Chinese claim to have possessed a knowledge of it more than 1 100 years 
before the birth of Christ. The needle was supposed to point toward the north star at all times. 
There is a continual variation from this line, now easily calculated, but unknown until discovered 
by Columbus. It perplexed, but did not dismay him. 

3 Tiiey had seen birds, but they proved to be the petrel, an ocean fowl. Bits cf Avood and sea- 
weeds liad also been seen. These had undoubtedly been seen on tho outer verge of the Gulf 
Stream, north-east of the Bahamas, where, according to Lieutenant I^raury [Physical Geography of 
the Sea], there may always be found a drift of sea-weed, and sometimes objects that have floated 
from the land. 



40 



DISCOYEKIES. 



[1492. 




BANNER OF THE 
EXPEDITION. 



Arrayed in scarlet, and bearing his sword in one hand, 
and the banner of the expedition in the other, Columbus 
landed, Avith his folloAvers, and in the midst of the gorgeous 
scenery and the incense of myriads of flowers, they all knelt 
down and chaunted a hymn of thanksgiving to God. The 
natives had gathered in wonder and awe, in the grove near 
by, regarding the Europeans as children of their great 
deity, the Sun.' Little did they comprehend the fatal signif- 
icance to them, of the act of Columbus, when, rising from 
the ground, he displayed the royal standard, drew his SAVord, 
set up a rude cross upon the spot where he landed, and took 
formal possession of the beautiful country in the name oi' 
Ferdinand and Isa])ella." The land first discovered by Colum- 
bus was one of the Bahamas, called by the natives Guana- 
hama, but since naixied by the English, Cat Island. The 
navigator named it San Salvador (Holy Saviour) ; and believing it to be near 
the coast of further India, he called the natives Indians. This name was after- 
ward applied to all the natives of the adjacent continent,^ and is still retained. 

The triumph of Columbus was noAV complete. After spending some time 
in examining the island, becoming acquanited with the simple habits of the 
natives, and unsuccessfully searching for "the gold, and pearls, and spices of 
Zipangi,"^ he sailed southward, and discovered several other small islands. He 
finally discovered Cuba and St. Domingo, where he was told of immense gold- 
bearing regions in the interior. Impressed with the belief that he had dis- 
covered the Ophir of the ancients, ho returned to Spain, where he arrived in 
March, 1493. He was received with great honors,^ but considerations of State 
policy induced the Spanish government to conceal the importance of his dis- 
covery from other nations. This policy, and the jej^usy which the sudden 
elevation of a foreigner inspired in the Spaniards, deprived him of the honor 
of having the New World called by his name. Americus Vespucius," a Flor- 
entine, unfairly won the prize. In company with Ojeda, a companion of Colum- 



' Almost all the natives of the torrid zone of America worshiped tlie sun as the chief visible 
deity. The great temples of the sun in Mexico and Peru were among the most magnificent struc- 
tures of the Americans, when Europeans came. 

- It was a common practice then, as now, for the discoverer of new lands to erect some monu- 
ment, and to proclaim the title of his sovereign to the territories so discovered. The banner of the 
expedition, Iiorne on shore by Columbus, was a white one, with a green cross. Over the initials 
F. and Y. (Ferdinand and Ysabella) were golden mural crowns. 

' Chapter I, page 9. '^ Note 4, page 38. 

^ Columbus carried back with him several of the natives, and a variety of the animals, birds, 
and plants of the N'ew "World. They excited the greatest astonishment. His journey from Palos 
to Barcelona, to meet the sovereigns, was like the march of a king. His reception was still more 
magnificent. The throne of the monarch was placed in a public square, and the great of the king- 
dom were there to do homage to the navigator. The higliest honors were bestowed upon Colum- 
bus; and the sovereigns granted him a coat of arms bearing royal devices, and the motto, "To 
Castile and Leon Columbus gave a new world." 

6 See the protrait of Yespucius at the head of this Chapter. The Italians spell his name Amer- 
igo Yespucci [Am-e-ree-go Yes-pute-se]. He died wliile in the service of the king of Spain, iu 
1514. He had made several voyages to South America, and explored the eastern coast as for 
southward as the harbor of Rio Janeiro. 



]609.] SPANISH VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES. 41 

bus during hh first vojagc, Americus visited the West Indies, and discovered 
and explored the eastern coast of South America, north of the Oronoco, in 
1490. In 1504, he puldishcd a gloAving account of the lanifs he had visited,' 
and that being the first formal announcement to the world of the great discov- 
ery, and as he claimed to have first set foot upon the Continent of the "West, 
it was called America, in honor of the Florentine. This claim was not 
founded on truth, for Columbus had anticipated him ; and two years earlier, 
Cabot, in command of an expedition from England, discovered Labrador, New- 
foundland, and portions of the New England coast. 

Columbus made three other voyages to the West Indies,- established settle- 
ments, and in August, 1498, he discovered the continent at the mouth of the 
Oronoco. This, too, he supposed to be an island near the coast of Asia, and he 
lived and died in ignorance of the real grandeur of his discoveries. Before 
departing on his third voyage, he was appointed Viceroy and High Admiral of 
the New World. During his absence, jealous and unscrupulous men poisoned 
the minds of the king and queen Avith false statements concerning the ambitious 
designs of Columbus, and he was sent back to Spain in chains. The navigator 
was guilty of serious wrongs, but not against his sovereign. He made slaves 
of the natives, and this ofiended the conscientious Isa])clla. But she was soon 
undeceived concerning his alleged political crimes, and he was allowed to depart 
on a fourth voyage. When he returned, the queen was dead, his enemies were 
in power, and he who had shed such luster upon the Spanish name, and added a 
new hemisphere to the Spanish realm, was allowed to sink into the grave in 
obscurity and neglect. He died at Valladolid on the 20th of May, 1506. 
His body Avas buried in a convent, from aa hence it Avas afterward carried to St. 
Domingo, and subsequently to Havana, m Cuba, Aviiere it now remains. 

It Avas an unlucky hour for the nations of the New World AA'hen the eyes of 
Europeans Avere first opened upon it. The larger islands of the West India 
group Avere soon colonized by the Spaniards ; and the peaceful, friendly, gen- 
tle, and happy natives, Avcre speedily reduced to slavery. Their Paradise AA"as 
made a Pandemonium fjr them. Bending beneath the weight of Spanish 
cruelty and Avrong, they soon sunk into degradation. The women were com- 
pelled to intermarry Avith their oppressors, and from this union came many of 
the present race of Creoles, Avho form the numerical strength of Cuba and other 
West India Islands. 

The wonderful stories of gold-bearing regions, told by the natiA-es, and ex- 
aggerated by the adventurers, inflamed the avarice and cupidity of the Span- 
iards, and exploring voyages from Cuba, St. Domingo, and Porto Rico, Avere 
undertaken. The eastern coast of Yucatan Avas discovered in 1506 ; and 
in 1510, Vasco Nunez de Balboa, Avith a colony, settled upon the Isthmus 



' First in a letter to Lorenzo de Medici, and then [1507] in a volume, dedicated to the Duke of 
Lorraine. Those publications revealed what tlie Spanish Government -wished to conceal. Note 4, 
page 47. 

• In his second voyage [149.3], Columbus took with him several horses, a bull, and some cows. 
These were the first animals of the kind taken from Europe to Americ.i- 




42 DISCOVERIES. [1192. 

of Darien. This was the first colony planted on the continent of America. 
Crossing the Isthmus in search of gold ni 1513, Balboa saw the Pacific 
Ocean in a southerly direction from the top of a high 
mountain, and he called it the " South Sea." In full 
costume,, and bearing the Spanish flag, he entered its 
waters and took possession of the "seas, lands," etc., "of 
the South," in the name of his sovereign. 

In the year 1512 Florida Avas discovered by Juan Ponce 
dc Leon, an old visionary, who had been governor of 
Porto Ptico. With three ships he sailed for the Bahamas 
in search of a fountain which unlettered natives and 
wise men of Spain believed to exist there, and whose 
waters possessed the quality of restoring old age to the 
BALBOA. I bloom of youth, and of making the recipient immortal. 

It was on Easter Sunday,"" March 27, 1512, the Pasquas de Flores^ of the 
Spaniards, when the adventurer approached the shores of the great southern 
peninsula of the United States and landed near the site of St. Augustine.^ The 
forests and the green banks were laden with flowers ; and when, soon after 
landing. Ponce de Leon took possession of the country in the name of his sov- 
ereign, this fact and the holy day were regarded, and he called the beautiful 
domain, Flokida. lie continued his searches for the Fountain of Youth all 
along the coast of the newly-discovered country, and among the Tortugas (Tor- 
toise) Islands, a hundred miles from its southern cape, but without success ; 
and he returned to Porto Rico, an older if not a Aviser man. He soon afterward 
went to Spain, where he remained several years. 

While Ponce de Leon was absent in Europe, some wealthy owners of plant- 
ations and mines in St. Domingo, sent Lucas Vasquez d' Ayllon, one of their 
number, with two vessels, to seize natives of the Bermudas, and bring them 
home for laborers. It was an unholy mission, and God's displeasure was made 
manifest. A storm drove the voyagers into St. Helen's Sound, on the coast of 
South Carolina, and after much tribulation, they anchored [1520] at the mouth 
of the Combahee River. The natives were kind and generous ,• and, judging 
their visitors by their own simple standard of honor, they unsuspectingly went 
upon the ship in crowds, to gratify their curiosity. While below, the hatches 
were closed, the sails were immediately spread, and those free children of the 
forest were borne away to work as bond-slaves in the mines of St. Domingo. 
But the perpetrators of the outrage did not accomplish their designs. One of 
the vessels was destroyed by a storm ; and almost every prisoner in the other 
refused to ta!:e food, and died. The fruit of tjiis perfidy was a feeling of hos- 
tility to wdiite people, which spread throughout the whole of the Mobilian 
tribes,^ and was a source of much trouble afterward. 



1 This little picture gives a correct representation of those armed Spaniards who attempted con- 
quests in the New "World. Balboa's fellow-adventurers became jealous of his fame, and on their 
accusations ho was put to death by the Governor of Darien, in 1517. 

- The day in which is commemorated in the Christian Church the resurrection of Jesus Clirist. 

" Feast of flowers. * Tage 51. ' Chapter VlIL. page 29. 



1G09.J SPANISH VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES. 43 

Ponce do Leon returned to the AYest Indies soon after D'Ayllon's voyage, 
bearing the commission of Governor of Florida, with instructions to plant settle- 
ments there. In his attempts to do so, tlie angry natives, who had heard of the 
treachery of the Spaniards, attacked him furiously. He was mortally wounded, 
and almost all of his followers were killed. D' Ay lion was then appointed governor 
of the country wdiicli he had discovered and named Chicora. He went thither 
to conquer it, and Avas received with apparent friendship by the natives on the 
banks of the Combahce,' near the spot where his great crime of man-stealing 
had been perpetrated. INIany of his men were induced to visit a village in the 
interior, when tlij natives practiced the lesson of treachery which D'Ayllonhad 
taught them, and massacred the whole party. The commander himself was 
attacked upon his own ship, and it was with difficulty that he escaped. He died 
of his Avounds at St. Domingo. 

Another important discovery was made in 1517, by Francisco Fernandez 
de Cordova, who commanded an expedition from Cuba : the rich and populous 
domain of Mexico Avas revealed to the avaricious Spaniards. Cordova's report 
of a people half civilized, and possessing treasures in cities, awakened the keen- 
est cupidity of his countrymen ; and the following year Velasquez, the governor 
of Cuba, sent another expedition to jSIexico, under Juan de Grijah^a. That 
captain returned with much treasure, obtained by trafficking Avith the Mex- 
icans. The aA'arice, cupidity, and ambition of Velasquez Avere poAvcrfully 
aroused, and he determined to conquer the Mexicans, and possess himself 
of their sources of Avealth. An expedition, consisting of elcA'en A'essels, and 
more than six hundred armed men, Avas placed under the command of Fernando 
Cortez, a brave but treacherous and cruel leader. He landed first at Tobasco, 
and then at San Juan de Ulloa," near Vera Cruz [April 12, 1519], Avhere he 
recei\Td a friendly deputation from Montezuma, the emperor of the nation.' 
By falsehood and duplicity, Cortez and his armed companions Avere allowed to 
march to Mexico, the capital. By stratagem and boldness, and the aid of 
native tribes Avho Avere hostile to the Mexican dynasty, Cortez' succeeded, after 
many bloody contests during almost two years, in subduing the people. The 
city of Mexico surrendered to him on the 23d of August, 1521, and the A'ast 
and populous empire of jMontezuma became a Spanish province. 

Florida continued to command the attention of the Spaniards, in whose 
minds floated magnificent dreams of immense Avealth in cities and mines Avithin 
its deep forests ; and scA^en years after the conquest of jNIexico [1528], Pamphilo 



' D'AylloTi immecl this river, Jordan, for he rcgartled the country as tlie new Land of rroraiso. 

^ Proi!Ounc?(l San-wliahn-da-Ooloo-ah. 

' Tlic Mexicans at that time were making rapid advances in the marcli of civHization. They 
were acquainted with many of the useful arts of enhghtencd nations, and appear to have been as 
far advanced in science, law, religion, and domestic and public social organization, as wcve the 
Romans at the close of the Republic. 

* Rom at Mcdellon, in Estramadura, Spain, in 1485, lie went to St. Domingo in 1504, and 
in 1511 accompanied Velasquez to Cuba. He committed many horrid crimes in Mexico. Yet ho 
had the good Ibrtune, unhke the more noble Columbus, to retain the favor of the Spanish monarch 
until his death. When, on his return to Spain, he urged an audience with the emperor, and was 
asked who he was, the bold adventurer replied, " I am the man who lias given you more provmces 
than your father lett you towns." He died in Estramadura, in 1554, at the age of G9 years. 



44 



DISCOVERIES. [1192 




cle Narvaez heaving boon appointed governor of that region, went from Cuba, 
with three hundred men,' to conquer it. Hoping to find a wealthy empire, 
like Mexico, he penetrated the unknown interior as far as the southern borders 
of Georgia. Instead of cities filled with treasures, he found villages of huts, 
and the monarch of the country livmg in a wigwam.' Disappointed, and con- 
tinually annoyed by hostile savages, who had heard of the treachery at the Com- 
bahee,' he turned southward, and reaching the shores of Apallachee Bay, near 
St. Marks, he constructed rude boats and embarked for Cuba. The commander 
and most of his followers perished ; only four escaped, and these wandered from 
tribe to tribe for several years before reaching a Spanish settlement in Mexico. 
Yet the misfortunes of Narvaez did not suppress the spirit of adventure, and 
Florida (the name then applied to all North America) was still regarded hj 
the Spaniards as the new Land of Promise. All believed that in the vast 
interior were mines as rich, and people as Avealthy as those of Mexico and Yu- 
catan. Among the most sanguine of the possessors of such 
an opinion, was Ferdinand de Soto, a brave and wealthy 
cavalier, who had gained riches and military honors, with 
Pizarro, in Peru.^ He obtained permission of the Spanish 
emperor to conquer Florida at his own expense, and for that 
purpose, was appointed governor of Cuba, and also of Flor- 
ida. With ten vessels and six hundred men, all clad in 
armor, ho sailed for the New World early in 1539. Leav- 
LE SOTO. ing his wife to govern Cuba, he proceeded to Florida, and 

on the lOtli of June landed on the shores of Tampa Bay. 
He then sent most of his vessels back, and made his way, among hostile sav- 
ages, toward the interior of the fancied land of gold.^ He wintered on the 
banks of the Flint River, in Georgia, and in the spring crossed the Appal- 
lachian Mountains, and penetrated the beautiful country of the Cherokees.^ 

This, all things considered, was one of the most remarkable expeditions on 
record. For several months, De Soto and his followers Avandercd over the hills 
and valleys of Alabama, in vain searches for treasure, fighting the fierce ]Mo- 
bilian tribes,' and becoming continually diminished in number by battle and 
disease. They passed the winter of 1541 on the banks of the Yazoo Eiver, in 
the land of the Chickasaws.^ In May of that year, they discovered and crossed 
the Mississippi River, probably not far below jMemphis ; and there, in the pres- 
ence of almost twenty thousand Indians, De Soto erected a cross made of a 
huge pine tree, and around it imposing religious ceremonies Avere performed. 

• They took with them about forty horses, the first ever landed upon the soil of the present 
United States. These all perished by starvation, or the weapons of the Indians. 

2 Page 13. ' Page 42. 

•< Pizarro was a follower of Balboa. He discovered Peru in 1521. and in connection with A 1- 
magro and Lucque, he conquered it in 1532, after much bloodshed. He was born, out of wedlock, 
in Estramadura, Spain, in 1475. He could neither read nor write, but seemed eminently fitted for 
the field of effort in which he was engaged. He quarreled with Almagro, civil war ensued, and he 
was murdered at Lima, in Peru, in 1541. 

5 De Soto hnd a large number of horses. He also lauded some swine. These rapidly increased 
in the forests. They were the first of their species seen in America. 

6 Page 27. 7 Chapter VIII., p. 29. s Page 30. 



1000.] ENGLISn AND FRENCH DISCOVERIES. 45 

To De Soto belongs the honor of first discovering that mighty river of our wide 
continent. After resting two days, the adventurers went up the western shore 
of the Mississippi as far as New Madrid. The ensuing summer and winter 
were spent by them in the wilderness watered by the Arkansas and its tributa- 
ries, and m the spring of 1542 they returned to the Mississippi, at the mouth 
of the Wachita, where De Soto sickened and died, after appointing his succes- 
sor.' In these painful and perilous journeyings, they had marched full three 
thousand miles. 

The death of their leader Avas a terrible blow to the followers of Do Soto. 
They Avere now reduced to half their original number ; and, abandoning all 
hopes of finding gold, or a wealthy people, they sought for Spanish settlements 
in Mexico. For many months they wandered over the prairies, and anion"- the 
tributary streams of the Red River, as far as the land of the Comanchcs," Avhen 
impassable mountain ranges compelled them to retrace their steps to the INIis- 
sissippi. At a little below Natchez they remained until the following July 
[1543], engaged in constructing several large boats, in which they embarked. 
Reaching the Gulf of Mexico, they crept cautiously along its coast ; and, on the 
20th of Scptemlier, the little remnant of De Soto's proud army, half naked and 
starving, arrived at a Spanish settlement near the mouth of the Panuco, thirty 
miles north of Tampico. This was the last attempt of the Spanish cotempo- 
raries of Columbus to explore, or to make settlements within the present terri- 
tory of the United States, previous to the appearance of the English' in the 
same field. They Avere impelled by no higher motive than the acquisition of 
gold, and treachery and violence Avere the instruments employed to obtain it. 
They were not Avorthy to possess the magnificent country Avliich they coveted 
only for its supposed wealth in precious metals ; and it was reserA-ed for others, 
Avho came afterAvard, Avith loftier aims, better hearts, end stronger hands, to 
cultivate the soil, and to establish an empire founded upon truth and justice. 
The Spaniards did finally become possessors of the southern portion of the Con- 
tinent ; and to this day the curse of moral, religious, and political despotism 
rests upon those regions. 



CHAPTER III. 

ENGLISn AND FRENCH DISCOVERIES. 

AViTH all its zealous vigilance, the Spanish court could not conceal the fact 
that a New World had been discovered,' and over Continental Europe and the 

' De Soto's followers sunk the body of their leader deep in the Mississippi, so that the Indians 
should not find it. 2 pacre 3:^. 

' Page 4G. While De Soto was engaged in this expedition, another, no less adventurous, was 
undertaken 1)7 Coronada, at the command of Mcndoza, Vicero}' of Me.xico. He took with him, 
from the south-eastern sliore of the Gulf of California, three hundred and fifty Spaniards, and eight 
hundred Indians. He penetrated the country to the head waters of the Rio del Norte, and on\\'ard 
mto the great interior desert, as far as the Ibrtieth degree of north latitude. It Avas a perilous, but 
Iruitlcss expedition. ■* Page 40. 




46 DISCOVERIES. [1492. 

British Isles, were spread the most extravagant talcs of gold-bearing regions 
beyond the Atlantic Ocean. By means of a papal hull.,^ Portugal and Spain 
vainly attempted to secure to themselves a monopoly of oceanic navigation. 
But in all maritime countries, cupidity and curiosity urged men to brave both 
the perils of the sea and the thunders of the Vatican, in search of the western 
paradise and the regions of gold. Monarchs and wealthy subjects projected 
new expeditions. Among those Avhose zeal in the cause of maritime discovery 
was newly awakened, was Henry the Seventh of England, wlio had turned a 
deaf ear to the appeals of Columbus before his great first voyage." 

The toAvn of Bristol, in the west of England, was 
then one of the most important sea-ports in the realm ; 
and among its adventurous mariners Avho had pene- 
trated the polar waters, probably as far as Greenland, 
was Sebastian Cabot, son of a wealthy Venetian mer- 
chant of Bristol, whose father sought the aid of the 
king in making a voyage of discovery. Willing to 
S3cure a portion of the prize he had lost, Henry read- 
ily yielded to the solicitations of Cabot, and gave him 
SEBASTIAN CABOT. ^^^ ^^^^ SOUS a commissiou of discovery, dated March 

16, 1496, which was similar, in some respects, to that 
which Columbus had received from Ferdinand and Isabella;^ but unlike his 
Spanish cotcmporaries, the English monarch did not bear the expenses of the 
voyage. The navigators were permitted to go, at their own expense, " to search 
for islands or regions inhabited by infidels, and hitherto unknown to Christen- 
dom," and take possession of them in the name of the King of England. They 
were to enjoy the sole right of trading thither — paying to the King, " in lieu 
of all customs and imposts," a fifth of all net profits, and the same proportion 
of the products of all mines. 

According to recent discoveries made in searchina; the ancient records of 
England, it appears to be doubtful whether the elder Cabot, who was a mer- 
chant and a scientific man, ever voyaged to America. It is certain, however, 
that his son, Sebastian, accompanied, and, doubtless, commanded, the first 
expedition, which consisted of two vessels freighted by his father and others of 
Bristol and of London, and which sailed from the former port in May, 1497. 
They steered north-westerly until they encountered immense fields of ice west- 
ward of Cape Farewell, when they turned to the south-west, and on the 3d of 
July, of that year, discovered the rugged coast of Labrador. Passing Cape 
Charles, they saw Newfoundland ; and, after touching at several points, prob- 
ably as far southward as the coast of Maine, they hastened to England to 
announce the fiict that they had first discovered a great western continent. 

' This is the name of special edicts issued by the Pope of Rome. Tliey are written on parch- 
ment, and have a great seal attached, made of wax, lead, silver, or gold. The name is derived from 
the seal, India. On one side, are the heads of Peter and Paul, and on the other, the name of the Pope 
and the year of his pontificate. The seal of the celebrated golden hull of the Emperor Charles IV., 
was made of gold. That buU became the fundamental law of the German Empire, at the Diet of 
Nuremburg, a. d. 1536. 2 Page 37. ^ Note 1, page 39, 



1G09.] ENGLISH AND FRENCH DISCOVERIES. 47 

The skill and energy of young C*abot sojurcd the confidence of his father 
and friends in his ability to command successfully ; and the following year, 
although he Avas only twenty-one years of age, he Avas placed in char^^e of 
another expedition, fitted out by his family and some Bristol merchants, for the 
juirposc of traffic, and of discovering a north-west passage to India, a desire for 
which had now taken hold upon the minds of the commercial world. Ice in the 
polar seas presented an impassable barrier, and he was compelled to go south- 
Avard. He explored the coast from the frozen regions of Labrador to the sunny 
land of the Carolinas. Nineteen years afterward [1517] he navigated the 
northern waters, as far as the entrance to Hudson's Bay ; and nine years later 
[1526], Avhile in the service of the monarch of Spain,' he explored the coast of 
Brazil, discovered and named the great Riu cle la Plata^ and penetrated the 
southern continent, in boats, upon the bosom of that river, almost four hundred 
miles. To the Cabots, father and son, belong the imperishable honor of first 
discovering the coast of the United States, through at least ten degrees of lati- 
tude. Italy may claim the glory of having given birtli to the two great discov- 
erers, Columbus and Americus Vespucius, whose name our continent now 
bears ; Avhile Sebastian Cabot drew his first breath in England.- 

The immense numbers and commercial importance of the cod fishes in the 
vicinity of Newfoundland, Avere first discovered and made knoAvn by the Cabots : 
and Avithin five or six years after their first A^oyagcs, many fishermen Avent 
thither from England, Brittany, and Normandy, for those treasures of the deep. 
Every French vessel that went to America, Avas on a com- 
mercial errand only, until 1523, Avhen Francis the first fitted 
out four ships, for the purpose of exploring the coasts of the 
NeAV World. He gave the command to John Vcrrazani, an 
eminent Florentine navigator. A'^errazani sailed in Decem- 
ber, 1523, but a tempest disabled three of liis ships, and he 
was compelled to go Avith only one. He proceeded due Avest 
from the Madeiras on the 2Tth of January, 1524, and first 
touched the American Continent, in j\Iarch folloAving, near verr.vzaxi. 

the mouth of the Cape Fear River, in North Carolina. After 
seeking a good harbor for fifty leagues further south, he sailed northAvard, and 

' Sebastian Cabot was born at Bristol, in 14GT. Ho was invested with the honorable title of 
Chief Pilot of both Enofland and Spain: and to him En,c:land is indebted for her first niaritimo con- 
nection with Russia, by the establishment of the Russian Trading Company, of wliieh ho was 
appointed provernor for lif\ He published a map of the world, and also an account of liis southern 
voyages. He died in 1557, at the age of 90 years. 

2 King John of Portugal, like Henry of England, had refused to aid Columbus, and lost the 
great prize. xVfter the return of the navigator, he felt a desire to fit out an expedition f-)r dis- 
coveries in the New AVorld, but the Pope having given to Spain the wliolo region westward, 
Ijeyond an imaginary line throe hundred leagues west from the Azores, he dared not interfere with 
the Spanish mariners. But when the northern vovagcs of the Cabots liecamo known, King John 
dispatched an expedition in tliat direction, under Gasper Cortoreal, toward the close of the year 
1500, for tlie ostensible purpose of seeking a north-west passage to India. Cortoreal coasted along 
the sliores of Labrador several hundred miles, and then freighting his ship with fifty natives whom 
he had caught, he returned to Portugal, and sold his living cargo, for slaves. Finding the adven- 
ture profitable, he sailed for another cargo, but he was never heard of afterward. Almost sixty 
years later some Portuguese settled iii Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, and first imported cattlo 
and swnie there. 




48 



DISCOVERIES. 



[1492. 




CARTIERS SHIP. 



explored the coast from the Carolinas to NeAvfoundland. He anchored in the 
Bays of Delaware and New York,' the harbor of Newport, and probably that 
of Boston, and held intercourse with the natives, Avho were sometimes friendly 
and sometimes hostile. Verrazani gave the name of New Fkance to the vast 
regions within the latitudes of the coasts which he had discovered. But at that 
time the French King was too much engrossed and impoverished by war with 
the Spanish monarch, to pay much attention to the 
important discoveries of Verrazani, or to listen to plans 
for future expeditions. Ten years elapsed before Admi- 
ral Chabon induced Francis to encourage another explor- 
ing enterprise, when a plan for making settlements in 
New France was arranged [1534], and James Cartier, a 
mariner of St. Malo, was appointed to the command of 
an expedition. He reached Newfoundland early in 
June, 1534. After exploring its coasts, 
he passed through the Straits of Belle- 
isle, into the Gulf beyond, planted a 
cross with the arms of France upon it, on the shore of Gaspj 
inlet, and took possession of the whole country in the name of 
his king. After discovering the mouth of the great nver of 
Canada, he sailed for France, in time to avoid the autumn 
storms on the American coast. 

There was great joy at the French court, in the capital, 
and throuo-hout the whole kingdom, because of the success of 
Cartier. He Avas commissioned for another voyage ; and in 
May following [1535] he sailed for NeAvfoundland with three 
ships, accompanied by several young noblemen of France. 
They passed the Straits of Belleisle, and entered the Gulf on the day dedicated 
to St. Lawrence ; and, on that account, Cartier gave the name of the martyr to 
the broad sheet of -sjjater over which they were sailing. They passed up the 
river which afterAvard received the same name, and mooring their ships at Que- 
bec," proceeded in a pinnace and boats to Hochelaga, where IMontreal noAV 
stands, then the capital of the Huron king.^ The natives were everywhere 
friendly and hospitable. 

The land in all that region was very level, except a high mountain in the 
rear of the Indian town. Cartier ascended to its summit, and Avas so impressed 
Avith the glorious vieAV that he called it Mont-Real (royal mountain), which 
name the fine city at its base yet retains. After exchanging presents and 
friendly salutations Avith the Indians, they returned to Quebec, and passed the 
scA^ere Avinter on board their ships. In the spring, after setting up a cross, and 




ARMS OF FRANCE. 



• Some authors say that Yerrazani landed -u'liere the lower extremity of New York city is, and 
p-iving the natives some spirituous liquors, made many of them drunk. The Indians called the 
place Manna-ha-tn, or "place of drunkenness," and they were afterward called JIanna-ha-tans. 
But this scone of intoxication probably occurred on board the Half-Moo^ the exploring ship of 
Heudrick Hudson. See page' 59. '^ Tronounced Ke-bec. 3 Page 23. 




1609.] ENGLIS.H AND FRENCH DISCOVERIES. • 49 

taking formal possession of the country, they returned to France, havino' lost 
twenty-five seamen with the scurvy, a disease until then unknown. Their de- 
parture was disgraced by an act of treachery, which planted the seeds of hatred 
of the white people among the natives of the St. Lawrence. Cartier, under 
pretense of friendship, decoyed the hospitable Huron king on board one of his 
vessels and carried him off to France. 

The results of this voyage were little else than a series 
of disappointments. Cartier's report of the rigors of the win- 
ter and the barrenness of the land in precious stones and 
metals, was discouraging, and four years elapsed before an- 
other expedition was planned. At length, Francis do la 
Roque, better known as lord of Robertval, in Picardy, ob- 
tained permission of the king to make further discoveries, and 
to plant settlements in Neav France.' The king invested 
him with the empty title of Viceroy of the whole country. 
Cartier's services being indispensable, he, too, was commis- 
sioned, but for subordinate command. He was readv lono- 

' . . Jo FUEXCU NOBLEMAN 

before RobertvaVs extensive preparations were completed, ix 1540. 

and being unwilling to bow to the new Viceroy's authority, 
he sailed, with five ships, in June, 1541, some mouths liefore the departure of 
his official superior. He had intended to take the Huron king back Avith him, 
but the broken-hearted monarch had died in France. It was an unfortunate 
occurrence. ■ The natives received Cartier first witli coldness, and then showed 
open hostility. Fearing the Indians, the French l3uilt a fort upon the island 
of Orleans, a little l)elow Quebec. There they passed the winter without 
accomplishing any important achievement, and in June following [1542], de- 
parted for France, just as Robertval arrived at Newfoundland, with two hun- 
dred persons. Robertval passed up the St. Lawrence, built two more forts 
near Quebec, endured a winter of great distress, and, abandoning the idea of 
settlement, returned to France in the spring of 1543. Six years afterward, he 
ajjain sailed for the St. Lawrence, and was never heard of again. The discov- 
eries of Verrazani and Cartier, and also of French fishermen, served as the found- 
ation for a claim by France to the northern portion of the American continent. 
France was now convulsed by the conflicts of religious opinions. It Avas 
the era of the Reformation there.'- The doctrines and the teachings of Calvin 
and others, in opposition to the faith and practice of the Roman Catholic 
Church, had already arrayed great masses of the people in violent hostility to 
each other. The religious Avar Avas an absorbing idea, and for fifty years the 
French government made no further attempts at discovery or colonization. 
But private enterprise sought to plant a French settlement in the land discovered 
by D'Ayllon.^ The Huguenots, or French Protestants, Avho maintained the 
fiiith of early Christianity, were the weaker party in number, and felt the heaA'y 
heel of oppression. They had a powerful friend in Jasper Coligny, admiral of 
France, but a weak protector in the reigning monarch, Charles the Ninth. 

' Page 48. 2 Note 14, page 62. 3 Page 42. 



50 DISCOVERIES. [1492. 

The fires of persecution were continually burning, and at length Coiignj 
conceived the noble idea of providing a place of refuge for his Protestant 
brethren, beyond the Atlantic. The king granted him a commission for that 
purpose ; and early in 1562 [Feb. 28], a squadron, under John Ribault, 
sailed for America. The little Huguenot fleet touched first near the harbor 
of St. Augustine, in Florida.' Sailing northward, they saw the mouth of the 
beautiful St. John's River [May, 1562], and, it being the fifth month of the 
year, they named it the " River of May." IMaking their way along the coast, 
they discovered Port Royal entrance, were charmed Avith the beauty of the 
scene, chose the spot for their future home, and built a small fort, which they 
named Carolina, in honor of the king. Leaving a garrison of twenty-six men 
to defend it, Ribault Avent back to France with the ships, for reinforcements. 
Bitter disappointment ensued. Civil war was raging in France, and Coligny 
was almost powerless. The reinforcements were not supplied, and the little 
garrison, though treated with hospitality by the Indians, became very discon- 
tented. Despairing of relief, they built a frail vessel, and, Avith insufficient 
stores, they embarked for France. Tempests assailed them, and famine was 
menacing them with death, when they were picked up by an English bark, and 
conveyed to Great Britain. Thus perished the first seeds of religious freedom 
which the storms of persecution bore to the New World. 

The noble Coligny was not discouraged ; and, during a lull in the tempest 
of civil commotion, another expedition Avas sent to America, under the com- 
mand of Laudonniere, who had accompanied Ribault on his first voyage. 
They arrived in July, 1564, pitched their tents on the banks of the St. John's 
River (River of May), and built another Fort Carolina. But there were ele- 
ments of dissolution among these immigrants. Many were idle, vicious, and 
improvident ; and provisions soon became scarce. Under pretext of returning 
to France, to escape fiimine, quite a large party sailed, in December, in one of 
the vessels. They turned pirates, and depredated extensively l^pon Spanish 
property in the West Indies. The remainder became discontented, and were 
about to embark for France, when Ribault arrived with immigrants and sup- 
plies, and took command.'' 

Spanish jealousy and bigotry were noAV aroused, and Avhen the monarch of 
Spain, the narroAV Philip the Second, heard of the settlement of the French 
Protestants within his claimed territory, and of the piracies of some of the 
party, he adopted measures for their expulsion and punishment. Pedro Melen- 
dez, a brave but cruel military chief, was appointed Governor of Florida, on 
condition that he Avould expel the Frenchmen from the soil, conquer the natives, 
and plant a colony there within three years. That was an enterprise exactly 
suited to the character of Melendez. He came Avith a strong force, consisting 
of three hundred soldiers furnished by the king, and twenty-tAvo hundred vol- 

' Page 42. 

2 James Le Moyne, a skillful painter, was sent with this expedition, with instructions to make 
colored drawings ot^ every ol>jeet worthy of preservation. His illustrations of the costume and cus- 
toms of the natives are very iuterestmg, because authentic. 



1G09.] ENGLISH AND FRENCH DISCOVERIES. #51 

unteers — priests, sailors, mechanics, laborers, women, and children. Tho fljct 
was scattered by storms, and with only one third of his original number, Me- 
lendez landed in a fine harbor on the coast of Florida. There he laid the 
foundations of a city, which he named St. Augustine [Sept. 17, 1565J, and 
formally proclaimed the king of Spain to be monarch of all North America. 
On hearing of the arrival of the Spaniards, a large party of the French, under 
Ribault, proceeded from the St. John's, by water, to attack them. A tempest 
wrecked every vessel ; and most of the survivors, who fell into the hands of the 
Spaniards, Avere put to death. In the mean while, Melendez made his way 
through the swamps and forests with a strong force, to the defenseless French 
settlement, where he massacred about nine hundred men, women, and children, 
and over their dead bodies placed an inscription, avowing tliat he slew them, not 
"because they were Frenchmen, but Lutherans.'" Upon that field of blood 
the monster erected a cross, and laid the foundation of a Christian church to 
commemorate the deed ! 

Charles the Ninth of France was not only a weak monarch, but an enemy 
to the Huguenots. He therefore took no steps to avenge the outrage, per- 
petrated under the sanction of the bigot of Spain. But one of his subjects, a 
fiery soldier of Gascony, named Dominic de Gourges, obtained permission to 
inflict retribution. He had suifered Spanish bondage and Spanish cruelty, and 
panted for revenge. He fitted out three ships at his own expense, and with one 
hundred and fifty men, sailed for Florida. He attacked the Spaniards upon the 
St. John's, surprised and captured Fort Carolina, which they occupied, made 
two hundred prisoners, and hanging his captives upon the trees almost upon the 
spot where his countrymen had been murdered, he placed over them the inscrip- 
tion — " I do not this as unto Spaniards or mariners, but unto traitors, robbers, 
and murderers." Too weak to brave the vengeance of Melendez, who was at* St. 
Augustine, De Gourges immediately left the coast, and returned to France. 
The natives were- deligrhted at seeing their common enemies thus destrov- 
ing each other. The Spaniards, however, held possession, and a Spanisli 
settlement was ever afterward maintained at St. Augustine, except during a 
few years. 

It was now mcffe than three quarters of a century since Columbus discov- 
ered the West India Islands, and yet no real progress toward a permanent 
European settlement, within the domain of the United States, had been made. 
Although the English seem not to have wholly relinquished the idea of plant- 
ing settlements in America, it was not until the twentieth year of the brilliant 
reign of Queen Elizabeth, and almost eighty years after the discovery of the 
continent by Cabot,- that healthy efforts to found colonies in the New World, 
Avere made. Sir Martin Frobisher^ (an eminent navigator) and others had. 

' The Protestants were often called by the peneral name of Lutherans, because the later Reform- 
ation was commenced by the bold opposition of Martin Luther to the corrupt practices of the Romish 
Church. Note 14, page 62. - Pa,2:e 46. 

3 Born in Yorkshire, England ; was trained in the navigator's art ; made several voyages for 
discovery ; and died of wounds received in a naval battle near Brest, on the French coast, in 
1594. 



iYA • 



DISCOVERIES. [1492. 



explored the north-western coast of North America, to the tlrearj region north 
of Hudson's Bay/ in search of precious metals and a north-west passage to 
India," but without beneficial results. Newfoundland w^as visited everj year 
by numerous English and French fishing-vessels, and the neighboring continent 
was frequently touched by the hardy mariners. Yet no feasible plans for col- 
onization were matured. Finally, Avhen the public mind of England was tvirned 
from the cold regions of Labrador and the fancied mineral wealth in its rugged 
mountains, to the milder South, and the more solid benefits to be derived from 
pIa?ifat/o;>s than mi/i s, a new and brilliant era in the history of civilization 
began. This change was produced incidentally by the Huguenot adventurers.* 
The remnant of Coligny's first colony, who were picked up at sea and taken to 
England, informed the queen of the glory of the climate, and the fertility of 
the soil of Carolina. When De Gourges returned from his foray upon the 
Spaniards,^ Walter Raleigh, then a young man of much promise, was learning 
the art of war Avith Coligny, in France, and he communicated to his friends in 
England that chevalier's account of Florida, which was yet a wilderness free 
for the sons of toil. Enterprise was powerfully aroused by the promises of that 
warm and beautiful land, and the Protestant^ feeling of England was strongly 
stirred by the cruelties of Melendez. These dissimilar, but auxiliary causes, 
produced great efiects, and soon many minds were employed in planning 
schemes for colonizing the pleasant middle regions of North America. The 
first healthy, plan for settlement there Avas proposed by the learned Sir Humph- 
rey Gilbert, a step-brother of Walter Raleigh. He had served with honor in 
the wars of Ireland, France, and the Loav Countries, and then was not only prac- 
tically engaged in maritime affairs, but had written and published a treatise on 
the north-west passage to India. Having lost money in a vain endeavor to 
transmute baser metals into gold, he resolved to attempt to retrieve his fortune 
by planting a colony in the Ncav World. In June, 1578, he obtained a liberal 
patent or grant from the queen. Raleigh gave him the aid of his hand and for- 
tune ; and early in 1579, Gilbert sailed for America, with a small squadron, 
accompanied by his step-brother. Heavy storms and Spanish war-vessels com- 
pelled them to return, and the scheme was abandoned for a time. Four years 
after Avard [1583] Gilbert sailed with another squadron ; and after a series of 
disasters, he reached the harbor of St. John's, NeAvfoundland. There he set up 
a pillar with the English arms upon it," proclaimed the sovereignty of his 
queen, and then proceeded to explore the coast southward. After being ter- 
ribly beaten by tempests off the shores of Nova Scotia and Maine, and losing 
his largest ship, he turned his vessel toAvard England. At midnight, in Sep- 
tember, during a gale, his own little bark of ten tons went down, with all on 
board, and only one vessel of the expedition returned to England to relate the 
dreadful narrative. 

The melancholy fate of the second expedition did not dismay the heart of 

' Xote 8, pacce 59. " Page 47. ' Page 50. 

* Pago 51. " ' Note 14, page C2. « Note 2, page 40. 






>>. ,/ 







llALEiGH's. Expedition at Roanoke. 



1G09.] 



ENGLISH AXD FRENCH DISCOVERIES. 



55 




Raleigh. He was a young man of great spirit, '-the most restless, and am- 
bitious, as he was the most versatile and accomplished, of all Elizahelirs court- 
iers." He now obtained a patent for himself [April, 
1584], which made him lord proprietor of all lands 
that might be discovered by him in America, be- 
tween the Santee and Delaware Rivers. He dis- 
patched Philip Amidas and Arthur Barlow, with 
two well-furnished ships, to explore the American 
coast. They approached the shores of Carolina' 
in July, and landing upon the islands of Wocoken 
and Roanoke, which separate the waters of Pamlico 
and Albemarle Sounds from the Atlantic, they took 
possession of the country in the name of Elizabeth. EALEian. 

They remained a few weeks, exploring the Sounds and trafficking with the 
natives, and then returned to England with two sons of the forest.'' The glow- 
ing accounts of the newly-discovered country filled Raleigh's^ heart with joy ; 
and the queen declared the event to be (what it really was) one of the most 
glorious of her reign. In memorial of her unmarried state, she gave the name 
of Virginia to the enchanting region. Raleigh was knighted, his patent was 
confirmed by act of Parliament, and the queen gave him a monopoly in the sale 
of sweet Avines, as a means for enriching him. 

The ardent and ever hopeful Raleigh now indulged 
in brilliant dreams of wealth and power to be derived 
from the New World, and he made immediate prepar- 
ations for planting settlements on his trans-Atlantic 
domains. He dispatched a fleet of seven vessels on 
the 19th of April, 1585, under the command of Sir 
Richard Grenville. He was accompanied by Ralph 
Lane, the appointed governor of the colony, with 
learned companions ; and also by Manteo, the native 
chief. They narrowly escaped shipwreck on the Caro- 
lina coast, in June, and in consequence of that danger, 

they named the land where their peril was greatest, Cape Fear. Entering 
Ocracock Inlet, they landed upon the island of Roanoke, in Albemarle Sound, 
and there prepared for a permanent residence.'' 




RALEIGH'S SmPS. 



' The French Protestants had given the name of Carolina to the region where tliey attempted 
settlement, and it has ever since retained it. See page 50. 

2 Manteo and Wanchese, natives of the adjacent continent : probably of tlio Hatteras tribe. 

3 Born in Devonshire, England, 1552. He was one of the most iUustrious men of the reign of 
Queen Elizabeth, which was remarkable for brilliant minds. His efforts to plant colonies in Amer- 
ica, were evidences of a great genius and indomitable courage and perseverance. He was also a 
ftne scholar, as well as a statesman, mariner, and soldier. His name will ever be held in reverence 
by all who can appreciate true greatness. He wTote a History of the AVorld, while in prison under 
a false charge of high treason, and was beheaded in London, October 29, 1628. 

* The picture of the meeting of the Ens^lish and natives of Roanoke, on page 53, exhibits 
truthful delineations of the persons and costumes of the Indians found there. They were copied 
and grouped from Harriot's " Brief and True Report of the new found land of Virginia," whic'h was 
published in 1590. Harriot accompanied the expedition as liistorian and naturalist, remained a 



56 DISCOA'ERIES. [1492. 

The English made some fatal mistakes at the outset. Instead of lookino; to 
the fruition of seed-time for true riches, thej turned from the wealthy soil I'-pon 
Avhich thej stood, and went upon vain searches for gold in the forests of the 
adjoining- continent. Instead of reciprocating the hospitable friendship of the 
natives, thej returned harshness for kindness, and treachery for confidence, 
until a flame of revenge was kindled among the Indians which nothing but the 
blood of Englishmen could quench. Schemes for the destruction of the white 
intruders were speedily planned, and tribes in the interior stood ready to aid 
their brethren upon the seaboard. As soon as Grenville departed with the 
ships, for England, the natives withheld supplies of food, drew the English into 
perilous positions by tales of gold-bearing shores along the Roanoke River, and 
finally reduced the colony to the verge of ruin. At that moment. Sir Francis 
Drake arrived from the West Indies, with his fleet, and afforded them relief 
But misfortune and fear made them anxious to leave the country, and the emi- 
grants were all conveyed to England, in June, 1586, by Drake. A few days 
after their departure, a well-furnished vessel, sent by Raleigh, arrived ; and a 
fortnight later, Grenville entered the inlet with three ships well provisioned. 
After searching for the departed colony, Grenville sailed for England, leaving 
fifteen men upon Roanoke. 

The intrepid Raleigh was still undismayed by misfortune. He adopted a 
wise policy, and instead of sendmg out mere fortune-hunters,' he collected a 
band of agriculturists and artisans, 'with their families, and dispatched them 
[April 26, 1587], to found an industrial State in Virginia. He gave them a 
charter of incorporation for the settlement ; and John White, who accompanied 
them, was appointed governor of the colony. They reached Roanoke in July ; 
but instead of the expected greetings of the men left by Grenville, they encoun- 
tered utter desolation. The bones of the fifteen lay bleaching on the ground. 
Their rude tenements were in ruins, and wild deer were feeding in their little 
gardens. They had been murdered by the Indians, and not one was left. 
Manteo^ did not share in the Indian hatred of the white people, and like Massa- 
soit of New England,' he remained their friend. By command of Raleigh, he 
received Christian baptism, and was invested, by White, with the title of Lord 
of Roanoke^ the first and last peerage ever created in America. Yet Manteo 
could not avert nor control the storm that lowered among the Indian tribes, and 
menaced the English with destruction. The colonists were conscious that fear- 
ful perils were gathering, and White hastened to England toward the close of 
the year for reinforcements and provisions, leaving behind him his daughter, 
Eleanor Dare (wife of one of his lieutenants), avIio had just given birth to a 
child [August 18, 1587], whom they named Virginia. Virginia Dare was 
the first ofi"spring of English parents born within the territory of the United 
States." 



year in Yirginia, and had correct drawings made of the inhabitants, their dwelhngs, their gardens, 
and every thing of interest pertaining to their costumes, customs, and general cliaracteristics. The 
picture may be accepted as historically correct. ' Pago 52. " Note 2, page 55. 

3 Page 114. * Note 6, page 78. 




1G09.] ENGLISH AND FRENCH DISCOVERIES. 57 

The great Spanish Armada' was preparing for an invasion of Great Britain, 
when White reached England ; and Raleigh, Grenville, and others, were deeply 
engaged in public affairs. It was not until the following May 
[1589J, that White departed, with two ships, for Virginia. 
According to custom, he went by the way of the West Indies, 
and depredated upon Spanish property found afloat. He was 
beaten in an engagement, lost one of his vessels, and was 
obliged to return to England. Raleigh's fortune being mate- 
rially impaired by his munificence in efforts at colonization, he 
assigned his proprietary rights to others ; and it Avas not until 
1590 that White was allowed to return to Roanoke in search 
of his daughter and the colony he had left. Both had then 
disappeared. Roanoke was a desolation ; and, though Raleigh, 
who had abandoned all thoughts of colonization, had five times 

T T , , 1, p il -J. ENGLISH GENTLE- 

sent manners, good and true, to search tor tno emigrants, jj^j^ ^530. 

they were never found. '^ Eighty years later, the Corees^ told 
the English settlers upon the Cape Fear River, that their lost kindred had been 
adopted by the once powerful Ilatteras tribe, ^ and became amalgamated with 
the children of the wilderness. The English made no further attempts at colo- 
nization at that time ; and so, a century after Columbus sailed for America, 
there was no European settlement upon the North American Continent. Sir 
Francis Drake had broken up the military post at St. Augustine [1585], and 
the Red Men were a^ain sole masters of the vast domain. 

A dozen years after the failure of Raleigh's colonization efforts, Bartholo- 
mew Gosnold, who had been to America, and was a friend of the late proprietor 
of Virginia, sailed in a small bark [March 26, 1602] directly across the Atlan- 
tic for the American coast. After a voyage of seven weeks, he discovered the 
Continent near Nahant [May 14, 1602], and sailing southward, he landed 
upon a sandy point which he named Cape Cod, on account of the great number 
of those fishes in that vicinity. Continuing southward, he discovered Nan- 
tucket, Martha's Vineyard, and the group known as Elizabeth Islands. Upon 
one of them, which he named Elizabeth, in honor of his sovereign, Gosnold and 
his company prepared to found a settlement. Upon an islet, in a tiny lake, 
they built a fort and store-house.^ Becoming alarmed at the menaces of the 
Indians and the want of supplies, they freighted their vessel with sassafras 



' This was a great naval armament, fitted out by Spain, for the invasion of England, in the 
summer of 1588. It consisted of one hundred and fifty ships, two thousand six hundred and fifty 
great guns, and thirty thousand soldiers and sailors. It was defeated [July 20] by Admirak 
Drake and Howard. 

'- While Raleigh was making these fruitless searches, the Marquis do la Roche, a wealthy 
French nobleman, attempted to plant a Fri'uch colony in America. He was commissioned Ijy the 
King of France for the purpose, and in 1598 sailed for America with a colony, chiefly drawn from 
the prisons of Paris. Upon the almost desert island of Sable, near the coast of Nova Scotisi, La 
Roche left forty men, wliile he returned to France for supplies. He died soon afterward, and for 
seven years the poor emigrants were neglected. When a vessel was finall)^ sent for them, only 
twelve survived. They were taken to France, their crimes were pardoned by the knig, and their 
immediate wants were supplied. 3 Page 20. * Note 5, page 20. 

' W: Jeremy Belknap, the historian of New Hampshire, discovered the cellar of this storehouse, 
in nai. 



-,8 DISCOVERIES. [1492. 

loots, and returned to England in June, 1602. The glowing accounts of the 
country which Gosnold gave, awakened the enterprise of some Bristol mer- 
chants,^ and the following year [1603] they fitted out two vessels for the pur- 
})Ose of exploration and traffic Avith the natives. The command was given to 
Martin Pring, a friend of both Raleigh and Gosnold. Following the track of 
the latter, he discovered the shores of Maine, near the mouth of the Penol)scot 
[June], and coasting westward, he entered and explored several of the larger 
rivers of that State. He continued sailing along the coast as far as Martha's 
Vineyard, trading with the natives ; and from that island he returned to En- 
idand, after an absence of only six months. Pring made another voyage to 
Maine, in 1606, and more thoroughly explored the country. Maine was also 
visited in 1605, by Captain George Weymouth, who had explored the coast of 
Labrador, ui search of a north-west passage to India.' He entered the Saga- 
dahock, and took formal possession of the country in the name of King James. 
There he decoyed five natives on board his vessel, and then sailed for England. 
These forest children excited much curiosity ; and the narratives of other mari- 
ners of the west of England, who visited these regions at about the same time, 
gave a new stimulus to colonizing efforts. 

The French now began to turn their attention toward the New World 
again. In 1603, De Monts, a wealthy French Huguenot,' obtained a commission 
of viceroyalty over six degrees of latitude in New France,* extending from Cape 
May to Quebec. He prepared an expedition for settlement, and arrived at 
Nova Scotia,^ with two vessels, in May, 1604.' He passed the summer there, 
trafiickino' with the natives ; and in the autumn he crossed over to the mouth 
of the St. Croix (the eastern boundary of Maine), and erected a fort there. He 
had left a few settlers at Port Royal (now Annapolis), under Poutrincourt. 
These De Monts joined the following spring [1605], and organized a pei-ma- 
nent colony. He named the place Port Royal ; and the territory now included 
in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the adjacent islands, he called Ac a die.'' 
His efforts promised much success; but he was thwarted by jealous men. In 
1608, he was deprived of his vice-royal commission, when he obtained a grant 
. f the monopoly of the fur trade upon the St. Lawrence, for one year, and 
ano her commission, to plant a colony elsewhere in New France. The new 
expedu'on was placed under the command of Samuel Champlain (who accom- 
panied the viceroy on his first voyage), and on the 3d of June, 1608, he 
arrived, Avith two vessels, at the mouth of the Saguenay, on the St. Lawrence. 
They ascended the great river, and on the site of Quebec, near where Cartier 
built his fort almost seventy years before,* they planted the first permanent 

• Page 46. " Page 510. 3 Page 49. ■> Page 48. s Note 2. page 80. 

fi De Monts first brought swine, and other domestic animals, into this portion of America. 
Some were also taken from thence to French settlements planted in Canada a few }^ears later. The 
company of which he was chief, fitted out four vessels. De Mpnts commanded the two here men- 
tioned, assisted by Champlain and Poutrincourt. 

■? In 1613, Samuel ArgaU made a piratical visit to these coasts, under the direction of the gov- 
ernor of the Virginia colony. He destroyed the remnant of De ilonts' settlement at St. Croix, 
broke up the peaceful colony at Port Royal, and plundered the people of every thing of value. See 
page 72. ^ Page 49. 



1G09.] 



ENGLISH AXD FRENCH DISCOVERIES. 



59 




HENRY HUDSON, 



French settlement in the New World. The following summer, Champlain 
ascended the Richelieu or Sorel River, the outlet of Lake Champlain, with a 
war party of Huron' and Algonquin' Indians, and discovered the beautiful lake 
which bears his name, in the north-eastern part of the State of New York.^ 

The English were not idle while the French were 
exploring, and making efforts at settlement in the 
direction of the St. Lawrence. Several private enter- 
prises were in progress, among the most important of 
which was that of a company of London merchants 
who sent Henry Hudson, an intimate friend of Captain 
Smith,* to search for a supposed north-eastern ocean 
passage to India. He made two unsuccessful voyages 
to the regions of polar ice [1607-8 j, when the attempt 
was abandoned. Anxious to win the honor o€ first 
reaching India by the northern seas, Hudson applied 

to the Dutch East India Company^ for aid. The Amsterdam directors afforded 
it, and on the 4th of April, 1609, Hudson departed from Amsterdam, in com- 
mand of the Half-Moon, a yacht of eighty tons. He 
sought a north-eastern passage ; but after doubling the 
capes of Norway, the ice was impassable. Turning his 
prow, he steered across the Atlantic, and first touching 
the continent on the shores of Penobscot Bay, he 
arrived in sight of the capes of Virginia in August, 
1609. Proceeding northward, he entered the mouths 
of several large rivers, and finally passed the Narrows^ 
and anchored in New York Bay. He proceeded almost 
sixty leagues up the river that bears his name, and 
according to the formula of the age, took possession of the country in the name 
of the States Greneral of Holland.' He returned to Europe' in November 




THE HALF-IIOON. 



1 Page 22. 2 Page 17. 

3 Champlain penetrated southward as far as Crown Point ; perhaps south of Ticonderoga, It 
was at about the same time that Hudson went up the river that beajs his name, as far as Water- 
ford, so that these eminent navigators, exploring at different points, came very near meeting in the 
wilderness. Six years afterward Champlain discovered Lake Huron, and there he joined some 
Huron Indians in an expedition against one of the Five Nations in "Western New York. They ha(i 
a severe battle in the neighborliood of tlie present village of Canandaigua. Champlain published 
an account of his first voyage, in IGT!, and a continuation in 1G20. He published a new edition 
of these m 1632, which contains a history of New France, from the discover}^ of Verrazani to the 
year 1631. Champlain died in 1634. ■* Page 65. 

5 Dutch mariners, following the track of the Portuguese, opened a successful traffic with East- 
em Asia, about the year 1594. The various Dutch adventurers, in the India tnule, were united in 
one corporate body in 1602, with a capital of over a milUon of dollars, to whom were given the 
exclusive privilege of trading in the seas east of the Cape of Good Hope. This was the Dutch 
East India Company. 

^ Entrance to New York Bay between Long and Staten Islands. 

' This was the title of the Government of Holland, answering, in a degree, to our Congress. 

8 Hudson, while on another voyage in search of a north-west passage, discovered the great Bay 
in the northern regions, which bears his name. He was there frozen iu the ice during the winter 
of 1610-11. While endeavoring to make his way homeward in the spring, his crew became muti- 
nous. They finally seized Hudson, bound his arms, and placing him ana his son, and seven sick 
companions, m an open boat, set them adrift upon the cold waters. They were never heard of 
afterward 



60 DISCO YE RIES. [1492. 

1609, and Lis report of the goodly land ho had discovered set in motion those 
commercial measures which resulted in the founding of a Dutch empire in the 
New World. 

With these discoveries commenced the epoch of settlements. The whole 
Atlantic coast of North America had been thoroughly or partially explored, the 
general character and resources of the soil had become known, and henceforth 
the leading commercial nations of Western Europe — England, France, Spain, 
and Holland — regarded the transal rntic continent, not as merely a rich garden 
without a wall, where depredators i: om every shore might come, and, without 
hinderance, bear away its choicest fruit, but as a land where the permanent 
foundations of vast colonial empires might be laid, from which parent states 
would receive almost unlimited tribute to national wealth and national glory. 

When we contemplate these voyages across the stormy Atlantic, and con- 
sider the limited geographical dcnowledge of the navigators, the frailty of their 
vessels' and equipments, the vast labors and constant privations endured by 
them, and the dangers to Avhich they Avere continually exposed, we can not but 
feel the highest respect and reverence for all who w^ere thus engaged in opening 
the treasures of the New World to the advancing nations of Europe. Although 
acquisitiveness, or the desire for worldly possessions, was the chief incentive to 
action, and gave strength to resolution, yet it could not inspire courage to 
encounter the great dangers of the deep and the wilderness, nor fill the heart 
Avith faith in prophecies of success. These sentiments must have been innate ; 
and those who braved the multitude of perils Avere men of true courage, and their 
faith came from the teachings of the science of their day. History and Song, 
Painting and Sculpture, have all commemorated their deeds. If Alexander the 
Great was thought Avorthy of having the granite body of Mount Athos hcAvn 
into a colossal image of himself,'^ might not Europe and America appropriately 
join in the labor of fashioning some lofty summit of the Alleghanies^ into a huge 
monument to the memory of the Navigators Avho lifted the vail of forgetful- 
ness from the face of the New World ?* 

1 The first ships were generally of less than one hundred tons burden. Two of the vessels of 
Columbus were without decks ; and the one in which Frobisher sailed was only twenty-five tons 
burden. 

2 Dinoeratos, a celebrated architect, offered to cut Mount Athos into a statue of Alexander the 
Great, so large, tliat it might hold a city in its riglit hand, and in its left a basin of sufficient capa- 
city to Iiold all the waters that poured from the mountain. ^ Note 3, page 19. 

■i Page 47. There has been much discussion concerning the claims of certain navigators, to the 
honor of first discovering the Continent of America. A " Memoir of Sebastian Cabot," illustrated by 
documents from the Rolls, pubhshed in London in 1832, appears to prove conclusively that he, and 
•not his father, was the navigator who discovered North America. Jphn Cabot was a man of science, 
and a merchant, and may have accompanied his son, in his first voyage in 1497. Yet, in the patent 
of February, 1498, in which the first voyage is referred to, are the words, "the land and isles of late 
found by the said John, in our name, and by our commandment." The first commission being issued 
in the name of John Cabot, the discoveries made by those employed by him, would of course be in 
his name. A little work, entitled "Researches respecting Americus Yespueius, and his Yoyages," 
prepared by Yiscount Santarem, ex-prime minister of Portugal, casts just doubts upon the statements 
of Yespueius, concerning his command on a voyage of discovery when, he claims, he discovered 
South America [page 41] in 1499. He was doubtless an officer under Ojeda; and it is quite cer- 
tain that he got possession of the narratives of Ojeda and published them as his own. The most 
accessible works on American discoveries, are Irving's "Life of Columbus;" Prescott's "Ferdinand 
and Isabella;" Lives of Cal)0t and Hudson, in Sparks's "American Biography," and Histories of the 
United States by Bancroft and IliJdreth. 




JOHN SMITH. 



CHAPTER 

There is a distinction to be observed 
in considering settlements and colonies. 
The act of forming a settlement is not 
equivalent to tlie establishment of a colony or the founding of a State. It is 
the initiatory step toward such an end, and may or may not exhibit permanent 
results. A colony becomes sucli only when settlements assume permanency, 
and organic laws, subservient to those of a parent government, are framed for 
the guidance of the people. It seems proper, therefore, to consider the era of 
settlements as distinct from that of colonial orfjanization. 

The period of settlements Avithin the bounds of the thirteen original colonies 
which formed the Confederacy in the War for Independence,' extends from 1607 
to 1733. For fifty years previous to the debarkation [1607J at Jamestown, - 
fishing stations had been established at various points on the Atlantic coast : 
and at St. Augustine,^ the Spaniards had kept a sort of military post alive. 
Yet the time of the appearance of the English in tlie James River, is the true 
point from which to date the inception or beginning of our great confederacy of 



rage 229. 



2 Pago C4. 



' Pa^e 5i. 



(32 SETTLEMENTS. [1607. 

free States. Twelve years [1607 to 1619] were spent bj English adven- 
turers in efforts to plant a permanent settlement in Virginia.' For seventeen 
years [1609 to 1623] Dutch traders were trafficking on the Hudson River, 
before a permanent settlement was established in New York.^ Fourteen years 
[1606 to 1620] were necessary to effect a permanent settlement in Massachu- 
setts f and for nine years [1622 to 1631] adventurers struggled for a foothold 
in New Hampshire.' The Roman Catholics were only one year [1634-5] in 
laying the foundation of the Maryland colony.' Seven years [1632 to 1639] 
were employed in effecting permanent settlements in Connecticut ;'"' eight years 
[1636 to 1643] in organizing colonial government in Rhode Island f and about 
fifty years [1631 to 1682] elapsed from the landing of the Swedes on South 
River,' before Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania (whose several histo- 
ries of settlements are interwoven), presented colonial features.® Almost sixty 
years [1622 to 1680] passed by before the first settlements in the Carolinas 
became fully developed colonies ;'"' but Georgia, the youngest of the thirteen 
States, had the foundation of its colonial government laid Avhen Oglethorpe, 
with the first company of settlers, began to build Savannah in the winter of 
1733." The first permanent settlement within the bounds of the original 
colonies, was in 

VIRGINIA. [1607—1619]. 

A century had not elapsed after the discoveries of Columbus [1492]," 
before a great social and political revolution had been effected in Europe. 
Commerce, hitherto confined to inland seas and along the coasts, was sending 
its ships across oceans. The art of printing had begun its wonderful work ;'^ 
and, through its instrumentality, intelligence had become generally diffused. 
Mind thus acting upon mind, in vastly multiplied opportunities, had awakened 
a great moral and intellectual power, Avhose presence and strength had not been 
suspected. The Protestant Reformation" had weakened the bonds of spiritual 
dominion, and allowed the moral faculties fuller play ; and the shadows of feudal 
institutions,'^ so chilling to individual effort, were rapidly disappearing before 

' Page 11. 2 Page 13. 3 Page 19. * Page 80. 

^ Page 82. « Page 89. 7 Page 91. ^ p^ge 92. 

9 Page 97. >" Page 99. " Page 103 " Page 40. 

'3 About the year 1450. Rude printing from engraved blocks was done before that time; but 
when Peter Schoeffer cast tlie first metal types, each letter separately, at about 1450, the art of 
printing truly had birth. John Faust established a printing-office at Mentz, in 1442. John Gutten- 
berg invented cut metal types, and used them in printing a Bible which was commenced in 1445, 
and finished in 14(30. The names of these three men are usually associated as the inventors of 
printing. 

'■i Commenced by Wickliffe, in England, in 1360; by Huss, in Bohemia, in 1405; by Luther, 
in Germany, in 1517. From this period until 1562, the movement was general throughout Europe. 
It was an effort to purge tlie Christian Church of great impurities, hy reforming its doctrine and 
ritual. The Reformers protested against the practices of the Roman Cathohc Church, and the title 
of the movement was, therefore, the Protestant Reformation. The name of Protestants was first 
given to Luther .and others, in 1529. 

15 The nature of feudal laws may be illustrated by a single example : William, the Norman 
conqueror of England, divided the land of that country into parts called barcnnes, and gave them 
to certain of his favorites, who became masters of the conquered people on their respective estates. 
For these gifts, and certain privUeges, the haro7is, or masters, were to furnish the king with a stii)u- 



1619.] VIRGINIA. g3 

the rising sun of the new era in the history of the world. Freedom of thought 
and action expanded the area of ideas, and gave birth to those tolerant princi- 
ples which lead to brotherhood of feeling. The new impulse developed nobler 
motives for human action than the acquisition of wealth and power, and these 
soon engendered healthy schemes for founding industritil empires in the New 
World. Aspirations for civil freedom, awakened by greater religious liberty, 
had begun the work, especially in England, where the Protestants were already 
divided into two distinct parties, called, respectively. Churchmen and Puritans. 
The former supported the throne and all monarchic ideas; the latter were 
more republican ; and from their pulpits went forth doctrines inimical to kingly 
power. These religious differences had begun to form a basis of political 
parties, and finally became prime elements of colonization. 

Another event, favorable to the new impulse, now exerted a powerful influ- 
ence. A long contest between England and France ceased in 1604. Soldiers, 
an active, restless class in England, were deprived of employment, and would 
soon become dangerous to the public peace. While population and general 
prosperity had greatly increased, there was another large class, who, by idle- 
ness and dissipation, had squandered fortunes, and had become desperate men. 
The soldiers needed employment, either in their own art, or in equally exciting 
adventures ; and the impoverished spendthrifts were ready fojt any thing which 
promised gain. Such were the men who stood ready to brave ocean perils and 
the greater dangers of the Western World, Avhen such minds as those of Fer- 
nando Gorges, Bartholomew Gosnold, Chief Justice Popham, Richard Hakluyty 
Captain John Smith, and others, devised new schemes for colonization. The 
weak and timid James the First,' who desired and maintained peace with other 
nations during his reign, was glad to perceive a new field for restless and 
adventurous men to go to, and he readily granted a liberal patent [April 20. 
1606] to the first company formed after his accession to the throne, for planting 
settlements in Virginia. The English then claimed dominion over a belt of 
territory extending from Cape Fear, in North Carolina, to Halifax, in Nova 
Scotia, and indefinitely westward. This was divided into two districts. One 
extended from the vicinity of New York city northward to the present southern 
boundary of Canada, including the whole of New England, and westward of it, 
and was called North Virginia. This territory was granted to a company 
of -'knights, gentlemen, and merchants" in the west of England, called the 
Plymouth Company^ The other district extended from the mouth of the 
Potomac southward to Cape Fear, and was called South Virginia. It was 

lated amount of money, and a stated number of men for soldiers, when required. The people had no 
voice in tins matter, nor in any public afl'airs, and were made essentially slaves to the barons. Out 
of this state of things originated the exclusive privileges yet enjoyed by the nobility of Europe. 
Except in Russia, the people have been emancipated from this vassalage, and the ancient forms of 
leudal power have disappeared. 

' He was the Sixth James of Scotland, of the house of Stuart, and son of ifary, Queen of Scot- 
land, by Lord Darnley. The crowns of p]ngland and Scotland were united by his accession to the 
throne of the former kingdom, in March, 1603. 

2 The chief members of the company were Thomas Tlanham, Sir John and Raleigh Gilbert (sons 
of Sir Humphrey Gilbert), William Parker, George Popham, Sir John Popham (Lord Chief Justice 
of England), and Sir Fernando Gorges, Governor of Plymouth Fort. 



54 SETTLEMENTS. [1607. 

granted to a company of " noblemen, gentlemen and merchants," chiefly resi- 
dents of London, called the London Company.^ The intermediate domain of 
almost two hundred miles, was a dividing line, so broad that disputes about 
territory could not occur, as neither company was allowed to make settlements 
more than fifty miles beyond its own boundary. 

The idea of popular freedom was as yet the heritage of a favored few, and 
the political character of the first colonial charter, under which a permanent 
settlement was made within the territory of the United States, was unfavorable 
to the best interests of all. The king reserved to himself the right of appoint- 
ing all officers, and of exercising all executive and legislative power. The 
colonists were to pay homage to the sovereign, and a tribute of one fifth of the 
net products of gold and silver found in Virginia ; yet they possessed no rights 
of self-government. They were to be governed by a council of seven appointed 
by the king, who were allowed to choose a president from among themselves. 
There was also a Supreme Council in England, appointed by the king, who had 
the general supervision of the colonies, under the direction of the monarch. 
That charter was the conception of a narrow mind, and despotic temper, and 
proved totally inadequate as a constitution of government for a free people. 

The North Virginia, or Plymouth Company, made the first attempt at set- 
tlement, and failed.^ The South Virginia, or London Company, sent Captain 
Christopher Newport, with three vessels and one hundred and five emigrants 
[Dec, 1606 J, to make a settlement upon Roanoke Island, ^ where Raleigh's 
colony had perished almost twenty years before. Among them was Bartholo- 
mew Gosnold, the projector of the expedition. They possessed very poor 
materials for a colony. There was no family among them, and only ' ' twelve 
laborers and a few mechanics." The remainder were '' gentlemen,"* many of 
whom were vicious, dissolute men, totally unfit for such an enterprise, and 
quite unworthy to be actors in the glorious events anticipated by Gosnold and 
his enlightened associates at home. The voyage was a long and tedious one. 
Newport pursued the old route by the Canaries and the West Indies, and did 
not arrive upon the American coast until April, 1607, when a storm drove his 
vessels into Chesapeake Bay, where he found a good harbor. He named the 
capes at the entrance, Charles and Henry, in honor of the king's sons. A 
pleasant point of the A^irginia peninsula, between the York and James Rivers, 
which they next landed upon and enjoyed repose, he named Point Comfort : and 
the noble Powhatan River which he soon afterward entered he called James. 
Sailing up the broad stream about fifty miles, the immigrants landed upon a 
beautiful, shaded peninsula,^ where they chose a site for the capital of the new 
empire, and called it Jamestowx. 

1 The chief members of the company were Sir Thomas Gates, Sir George Somers, Richard Hak- 
luyt (the historian), and Edward Maria "Wingfield, who was the first governor of Virginia. 

' Page 73. ^ page 55. 

^ This name was given to wealthy men, who were not engaged in any industrial pursuit, and 
■often spent their lives in idleness and dissipation ; a class wliich, in our day and country, number, 
happily, very few. Labor is worthily honored as more noble than idleness. 

5 This may be called an island, for the marsh which connects it with the mainland is often over- 
iJlowed. The currents of the river have washed away large portions of the original island. 



1619.] VIRGINIA. 65 

111 feelings had been engendered before they reached the Canary Islands, 
and violent disputes had arisen during the long voyage. As the silly king had 
placed the names of the colonial council in a sealed box, with instructions not 
to open it until their arrival in Virginia, there Avas no competent authority on 
board to restore harmony. Captain Smith, ^ who was the most able man among 
them, excited the envy of his companions ; and being charged with a design to 
murder the council, usurp government, and proclaim himself king, he was 
placed in confinement. On opening the sealed box, it was discovered that 
Smith was one of the council. He was released from confinement; but, 
through the influence of Wingfield, an avaricious, unprincipled, but talented 
man, he Avas excluded from office. Smith demanded a trial upon the absurd 
charges. The accusation was withdrawn, and he took his seat in the council, 
over which Wingfield was chosen to preside. 

Soon after landing, Newport, Smith, and twenty others, ascended the 
James River to the Falls at Richmond, and visited the emperor of the Powhat- 
ans,* whose residence was a mile below the foot of the rapids. The title of the 
emperor was Powhatan, which signified supreme ruler, as did Pharaoh in the 
antient Egyptian language — the chief man in Egypt. He was a man of great 
ability, and commanded the reverence of the whole confederation. He appeared 
friendly to the English, notwithstanding his people murmured at their presence ; 
and the visitors returned to JamestOAvn much gratified. 

Early in June, 1607, Newport sailed for England, to obtain more settlers 
and provisions. The little band of emigrants soon perceived the perils of their 
situation. A large portion of their provisions had been spoiled during the 
voyage. They had not planted, therefore they could not reap. The neighboring 
tribes evinced hostility, and Avithheld supplies. Poisonous vapor arose from 
the marshes ; and before the close of summer, one half of the adventurers per- 
ished by disease and famine. Among the victims was Gosnold. The settlers, 
in their despair, reproached themselves and the leaders of the expedition, and 
longed to depart for the Old "World. In the midst of their despondency, the 
survivors discovered that president Wingfield was living on choice stores, and 
was preparing to abandon the colony and escape to the West Indies in the pin- 
nace^ left by Newport. Their indignation was thoroughly aroused, and he was 
deposed. Ratclifie, a man as weak and wicked as Wingfield, was chosen his 
successor. He, too, Avas speedily dismissed ; and the settlers, Avith one con- 
sent, wisely turned to Smitli as ruler. 

It Avas a happy hour for the Virginia settlers when Captain Smith took the 
reins of government. All Avas confusion ; but he soon restored order ; and by 
his courage and energy, inspired the Indians A\'ith aAAC, and compelled them to 
bring him supplies of food. In October, wild game became plentiful ; and at 
the beginning of November, the abundant harvest of Indian corn Avas gathered 

1 See portrait at the head of this Chapter. Smith was one of the most remarkable men of his 
time. He was bom in Lincolnshire, P^ntrland ; and after many adventures in Europe, went to 
America. He died in 1631. He wrote a History of Virginia, and several other works. 

^ Page 20. ' A small, light vessel, with sails and oars. 

5 



66 



SETTLEMENTS. 



[1607. 



by the natives, and they supplied the settlers with all they needed. Having 
established a degree of comfort and prosperity, Smith started, with some com- 
panions, to explore the surrounding country. He ascended the Chickahomminy 
River fifty miles from its mouth, and then, with two companions, penetrated 
the vast forest that covered the land. His companions were slain by the na- 
tives, and he Avas made a captive. After being exhibited in several villages, he 
was taken to Opechancanough,* the eldest brother of Powhatan, who, regarding 
Smith as a superior being, spared his life, and conducted him to the emperor, 
then at Weroworomoco, on the York River.- A solemn council decided that 
the captive must die, and Smith was prepared for execution. His head was 
placed upon a stone, and the heavy clubs of the executioners were raised to 
crush it, when Pocahontas, a child of "ten or twelve years,'" the favorite 




POCAHONTAS. 

daughter of Powhatan, rushed from her father's side, and casting herself upon 
the captive, besought the king to spare his life. Powhatan consented, and 
Smith was conducted in safety to Jamestown by a guard of twelve men, after 
an absence of seven weeks. 

God, in his providence, overrules every thing for good. It is seen in this 
event, for Smith's captivity was a public benefit. He had acquired a knowl- 
edge of the Indian character, and of the country and its resources, and also had 
formed friendly relations with the sachems and chiefs. Had his companions 



' Note 5, page 106. 

2 At Shelly, ueai-ly opposite the mouth of Queen's Creek, Gloucester County, YLrginia. 

3 Page 70. 



1619.] VIRGINIA. 67 

possessed half as much energy and honesty as Smith, all would have heen well. 
But they were idle, improvident, and dissolute. As usual, he found every 
thing in disorder on his return from the forest. Only forty men were living, 
and a greater portion of them were on the point of escaping to the West Indies 
in the pinnace; but the courage and energy of Smith compelled them to re- 
main. Conscious of the purity of their ruler and the wickedness of themselves, 
they hated him intensely, and from that time they plotted for his destruction, 
or the overthrow of his power. 

Captain Newport arrived with supplies and one hundred and twenty im- 
migrants, early in 1608. These were no better than the first adventurers. 
Instead of agriculturalists and mechanics, with families, they were idle "gentle- 
men," "packed hither," as Smith said, "by their friends, to escape ill destin- 
ies." There were also several unskillful goldsmiths, the very men least needed 
in the colony. Some glittering earth in the vicinity of Jamestown, was by them 
mistaken for gold ; and in spite of the remonstrances of Smith, the whole indus- 
try of the colony was directed to the supposed treasure. " There was no talk, 
no hope, no work, but dig gold, Avork gold, refine gold, load gold." Newport 
loaded his vessel with the worthless earth, and returned to England, believing 
himself exceedingly rich ; but science soon pronounced him miserably poor in 
useful knowledge and well-earned reputation. 

The gold-fever had taken strong hold upon the indolent dreamers, and 
Smith remonstrated against idleness and pleaded for industry, in vain. He 
implored the settlers to plow and sow, that they might reap and be happy. 
They refused to listen, and he turned from Jamestown with disgust. With a 
few sensible men, he went to explore the Chesapeake in an open boat, and 
every bay, inlet, and creek, received his attention. He went up the Potomac 
to the falls above Washington city ; and then, after exploring the shores of the 
Rappahannock to the site of Fredericsburg, he returned to Jamestown. A 
few days afterward he returned again to the Chesapeake, carefully explored 
each shore above the mouth of the Potomac, and entered the Patapsco, and ate 
Indian corn on the site of Baltimore. He also went up the Susquehannah to 
the beautiful vale of Wyoming,^ and penetrated the forests even to the territory 
of the Five Nations,^ and established friendly relations with the dusky tribes. 
Within three months he traveled full three thousand miles. It was one of the 
most wonderful of exploring expeditions, considered in all its aspects, ever re- 
corded by the pen of history ; and the map of the country, which Smith con- 
structed on his return, is yet in existence in England, and is remarkable for its 
general accuracy. 

Captain Smith returned to Jamestown on the 7th of September, 1608, and 
three days afterward he was formally made president of the settlement. New- 
port arrived soon afterward, with seventy immigrants, among whom were two 
females, the first English women ever seen upon the James River. ^ To the 
soil they were compelled to look, chiefly, for their food, and Smith exerted all 

Page 290. ' Page 23. ' Page 105. 



08 SETTLEMENTS. [1607. 

his energies to turn the little industry of the settlers to agriculture. He suc- 
ceeded, in a degree, but he had poor materials out o^ which to form a healthy, 
self-sustaining commonwealth. He wrote to the Supreme Council' to send over 
a different class of men. "I entreat you," he said, "rather send but thirty 
carpenters, husbandmen, gardeners, fishermen, blacksmiths, masons, and diggers 
of trees' roots, well provided, than a thousand such as we have." Yet, with all 
his exertions, idleness and improvidence prevailed. At the end of two years 
from the first landing at Jamestown, and when the settlement numbered two 
hundred strong men, not more than forty acres were under cultivation. To the 
Indians the white people were compelled to look for their chief supply of food. 

The London Company Avere disappointed, for the anticipations of sudden 
wealth, in which they had indulged, were not realized, and they sought and ob- 
tained a new charter [June 2, 1609], which gave them more ample privileges. 
The territory of South Virginia- was extended northward to the head of the 
Chesapeake. The Supreme Council was vested with power to fill vacancies in 
its own body, and to appoint a governor for Virginia, whose rule was made ab- 
solute. The lives, liberties, and property of the settlers were at his disposal, 
and they were compelled to contribute a certain share of their earnings to the 
proprietors. Thus they were mere vassals at will, under a petty despotism, 
Avithout any inherent power, then recognized, to cast off the yoke. 

Under that charter. Lord De la Warr (Delaware), an enlightened peer, 
Avas appointed governor of Virginia, for life, and soon afterward Newport sailed 
for America [June 12, 1609], with nine ships, and more than five hundred 
emigrants.' Sir Thomas Gates, the governor's deputy, embarked Avith New- 
port, accompanied by Sir George Somers. Gates, Newport, and Somers, 
were commissioned to administer the government until the arrival of DelaAvare. 
When near the coast, a hurricane dispersed the fleet, and the vessel bearing the 
commissioners was wrecked on one of the Bermuda Islands. Seven vessels of 
the squadron reached the James River in safety. The colony would have been 
the gainer had these never arrived, for a greater portion of the ncAV immigrants 
were more profligate, if possible, than the first. They were dissolute scions of 
wealthy families, and many of them came to avoid punishment for crimes at 
home. They regarded Virginia as a paradise for libertines, and belicA^ed the 
colony to be without a head until the arrival of the governor or his deputy. 
Smith, on the contrary, boldly asserted his authority as president, and main- 
tained it until an accident in autumn compelled him to go to England for sur- 
gical aid,^ when he delegated his authority to George Percy, brother of the 
duke of Northumberland. 

When the idle and profligate settlers were released from the control of 

' Page 64. ' Page 63. 

^ Domestic animals Avere now first taken to Virginia. They consisted of six mares, one horse, 
six hundred swine, a few sheep and goats, and five hundred domestic fowls. Two years later one 
hundred cows and some other cattle were brought over. 

4 A^^'hile passmg down the James River, in a boat, from the FaDs, Smith's bag of powder ignited, 
and the explosion ahnost killed liim. His wounds were so severe as to require the most skillful 
surgery. 



1619.] VIRGINIA. 69 

Smith, they gave themselves up to every irregularity of life. Their ample 
stock of provisions was rapidly consumed. The Indians had great respect for 
Smith, and were friendly while he remained, but after his departure, they 
openly showed their contempt for the English, withheld supplies of provisions, 
and conceived a plan for the total extermination of the white intruders. Fam- 
ine ensued, and the winter and spring of 1610 were long remembered as '^ the 
starvinfT time." Those who went to the cabins of the Indians, for food, were 
treacherously murdered ; and finally a plan was matured by the natives for 
striking a blow of utter extermination. Again Pocahontas performed the part 
of a guardian angel.* On a dark and stormy night she hastened to Jamestown, 
revealed the plot, and was back to her couch before the dawn. Thus, she saved 
the colonists by placing them on their guard. Yet death hovered over them. 
The horrors of destitution increased, and the settlement which numbered five 
hundred persons when Smith left, was reduced to sixty Avithin six months after 
his departure. The commissioners^ finally arrived. They constructed a rude 
vessel upon the barren island where they were wrecked, and in it reached 
Virgmia, in June, 1610. Instead of being greeted by a flourishing people, 
they were met by a mere remnant, almost famished. There appeared no way 
to obtain food, and Gates determined to sail immediately for Newfoundland,^ 
and distribute the immigrants among the English fishing vessels there. James- 
town was utterly abandoned, and toward Hampton Roads* the dejected settlers 
sailed in four pinnaces. Early the next morning white sails greeted their 
vision. Lord Delaware had arrived with provisions and immigrants ; and that 
very night, Jamestown, abandoned to pagans in the morning, was made vocal 
with hymns of thanksgiving to the true God, by the returned settlers. 

Governor Delaware was a virtuous and prudent man, and under his admin- 
istration the colony began to prosper. Failing health compelled him to return 
to England the following spring [March. 1611 J ; and he left the government 
in the hands of Percy. Smith's successor, Avho managed with prudence until the 
arrival of Sir Thomas Dale, with supplies.' Dale was an experienced soldier. 
and, assuming the government, he ruled by martial law. Early in September 
following, Sir Thomas Gates arrived with six well-furnished ships, and three 
hundred immigrants. With this arrival came hope for the colony. A large 
portion of the new settlers were sober, industrious men, and their arrival gave 
great joy to the four hundred colonists at Jamestown. Gates assumed the 
functions of governor, and Dale went up the river to plant new settlements at 
the mouth of the Appomattox and near the Falls. ^ And now a wise change in 
the domestic policy of the colony was made. Hitherto the land had been 
worked in common, and the product of labor was deposited in public storehouses, 
for the good of the community. The industrious created food for the indolent, 
and an incentive to effort was wanting. That incentive was necessary ; and it 
was found in the plan of making an assignment of a few acres of land to each 

' Page 66. « Page 68. ' Page 47. ^ Note 3, page 297. 

* Delaware afterward sailed for Virginia, to resume the reins of government, but died ou the 
voyage. ' Near the present City Point, and Richmond. 



70 SETTLEMENTS. [1607. 

man, to be cultivated for his own private benefit. This regulation gave a pow- 
erful impulse to industry. Larger assignments were made, and soon the com- 
munitj system was abandoned, and industry on private account created an 
ample supply of food for all.' 

A third charter Avas obtained by the London Company, on the 22d 
of March, 1612, by wdiich the control of the king was annulled. The 
Supreme Council was abolished, and the whole company, sitting as a demo- 
cratic assembly, elected the ofiicers, and ordained the laws, for the colony- 
Yet no political privilege was granted to the settlers. Their very exist- 
ence as a body politic, was completely ignored. They had no voice in the 
choice of rulers and the enactment of laws. Yet they were contented ; and at 
the beginning of 1G13 there were a thousand Englishmen in Virginia. At 
about this time an event occurred, which proved of permanent benefit to the 
settlement. Powhatan had continued to manifest hostile feelings ever since the 
departure of Smith. For the purpose of extorting advantageous terms of peace 
from the Indian king. Captain Argall (a sort of buccaneer),^ bribed an Indian 
chief, with a copper kettle, to betray the trusting Pocahontas into his hands. 
She Avas induced to go on board his vessel, where she was detained as a prisoner 
for several months, until Powhatan ransomed her. In the mean while, a mutual 
attachment had grown up between the maiden and John Rolfe, a young En- 
glishman of good flxmily. He had instructed her in letters and religion ; and, 
with the consent of Powhatan, she received the rite of Christian baptism, and 
became the wife of Rolfe, in April, 1613. This union brought peace, and 
Powhatan was ever afterward the friend of the English. 

Prosperity now smiled upon the settlement, yet the elements of a perma- 
nent State were wanting. There were no families in Virginia, and all the 
settlers indulged in anticipations of returning to England, which they regarded 
as home. Gates went thither in March, 1614, leaving the administration of 
government with Sir Thomas Dale, who ruled with wisdom and energy for 
about two years, and then departed, after appointing George Yeardley deputy- 
governor. During Yeardley' s administration, the culture of the tobacco plant' 
was promoted, and so rapidly did it gain in favor, that it soon became, not only 
the principal article of export, but the currency of the colony. And now 
[1617J Argall, the buccaneer, was appointed deputy-governor. He wfls a des- 
pot in feelings and practice, and soon disgusted the people. He was succeeded 
liy Y^eardley, who Avas appointed governor in 1619; and then dawned the natal 
morning of Virginia as a Republican State. Yeardley abolished martial law, 

' A similar result was seen in the operations of the Plymouth colony. See page 116. 

'^ Note 7, page 58. 

^ This plant, yet very extensively cultivated in Virginia and the adjoining States, was first 
discovered by Sir Francis Drake, near Tabaco, m Yucatan : hence its name. Drake and Raleigh 
first introduced it into England. King James conceived a great hatred of it, and wrote a treatise 
against its use. He forbade its cultivation in England, but could not prevent its importation from 
Virginia. It became a very profitable article of commerce, and the streets of Jamestown were 
planted with it. Other agricultural productions were neglected, and while cargoes of tobacco were 
preparing for England, the necessaries of life were wanting. The money value of tobacco was about 
..sixty-six cents a pound. 



1619.] NEW YORK. 71 

released the planters from feudal service to the colony,' and established repre- 
sentative government/ The settlement was divided into eleven boroughs, and 
two representatives, called burgesses, Avere chosen by the people for each. 
These, with the governor and council, constituted the colonial government. 
The burgesses were allowed to debate all matters pertaining to the good of the 
colony ; but their enactments were not legal until sanctioned by the company 
in England. The most important event of that year occurred on the 28th of 
June. On that day, the first representative assembly ever convened in Amer- 
ica, met at Jamestown. Then and there, the foundations of the Virginia 
commonwealth were laid. The people now began to regard Virginia as their 
home, and "fell to building houses and planting corn." Within two years 
afterward, one hundred and fifty reputable young women were sent over to 
become wives to the planters,^ the tribe of gold-seekers and "gentlemen" was 
extinct, for " it was not the will of God that the new State should be formed 
of such material ; that such men should be the fathers of a progeny born on the 
American soil, who were one day to assert American liberty by their eloquence, 
and defend it by their valor." * 



CHAPTER II. 

NEW YORK [1G09 — 1G23]. 

In a preceding chapter,^ we have considered the discovery and exploration 
of the river, bearing his name, by Henry Hudson, then in the service of the 
Dutch East India Company. On his return to England [Nov. 1609], he for- 
warded to his employers in Amsterdam,^ a brilliant account of his discoveries in 
America. Jealous of the maritime enterprise and growing power of the Dutch, 
the British king would not allow Hudson to go to Holland, fearing he might be 
employed in making further discoveries, or in planting settlements in America. 
This narrow and selfish policy of James was of no avail, for the ocean pathway 
to new and fertile regions, once opened, could easily be traversed by inferior 
navigators. This fact was soon demonstrated. In 1610, some wealthy mer- 
chants of Amsterdam, directors of the Dutch East India Company,'^ sent a ship 
from the Texel, laden Avith merchandise, to traffic Avith the Indians upon the 
Mauritius,* as the present Hudson RiA^er was then called. Hudson's ship (the 
Ha/f-Moon'^) was also sent hither the same year on a like errand ; and for three 

> Page 68. 

- Yeardley found the people possessed with an intense desire for that freedom Avliich the 
EiigUsh constitution gave to every subject of the realm, and it was impossible to reconcile that feel- 
ing with the exercise of the arbitrary power which had hitherto prevailed. He, therefore, formed 
a plan for a popular assembly as similar to the English parhament as circumstances would allow. 

3 Page 105. ■* Bancroa. 5 page 59. 6 Page 59. 

7 Note 5, page 59. » So named, in honor of Prince Maurice, of Nassau. " Page 59. 



72 SETTLEMENTS. [1609. 

years afterward, private entei'prise dispatclied many vessels from Holland, to 
traffic for furs and peltries. Among other commanders came the bold Adrian 
Block, the first navigator of the dangerous strait in the East River, called 
Hell-Gate. Block's vessel Avas accidentally burned in the autumn of 1613, 
when he and his companions erected some rude huts for shelter, near the site 
of the Bowling Green, at the foot of Broadway, New York. These huts formed 
the germ of our great commercial metropolis. During the ensuing winter 
they constructed a vessel from the fine timber which grew upon Manhattan 
Island, and early in the spring they sailed up Long Island Sound on a voyage 
of discovery which extended to Nahant. Block first discovered the Connecticut 
and Thames Rivers, and penetrated Narraganset Bay to the site of Provi- 
dence. 

Intent upon gain, Dutch trading vessels now frequently ascended the Mau- 
ritius, and a brisk trade in furs and peltries was opened with the Indian tribes, 
almost two hundred miles from the ocean. The traders built a fort and store- 
house upon a little island just beloAV Albany, in 1614, which they called Fort 
Nassau; and nine years. later. Fort Orange Avas erected near the river, a little 
south of the foot of the present State-street, in Albany, on the site of Albany. 
There is a doubt about a fort being erected on the southern extremity of Man- 
hattan Island, at this time, as some chroniclers have asserted. It is probable 
the trading-house erected there was palisaded, as a precautionary measure, for 
they could not Avell determine the disposition of the Indians. 

On the 11th of October, 1614, a special charter was granted to a company 
of Amsterdam merchants, giving them the monopoly of trade in the New 
World, from the latitude of Cape May to that of Nova Scotia, for three years. 
The territory Avas named Neav Netherland, in the charter, Avhich title it held 
until it became an English province in 1664.' NotAA'ithstanding it Avas included 
in the grant of James to tlie Plymouth company," no territorial jurisdiction 
being claimed, and no English settlements having been made northAvard of 
Richmond, in Virginia, the Dutch Averc not disturbed in their traffic. The 
popular story, that Argall entered the Bay of New York on his return from 
Acadie in 1613, and made the Dutch traders promptly surrender the place to 
the English croAvn, seems unsusceptible of proofs 

Success attended the Dutch from the beginning. The trade in furs and 
peltries became very lucrative, and the company made an unsuccessful applica- 
tion for a renewal of their charter. More extensiA^e operations Avere in contem- 
plation; and on the 3d of June, 1621, the States General of Holland^ 
incorporated the Diitcli West India Company, and invested it with almost 
regal poAvers, for planting settlements in America from Cape Horn to Ncav- 
foundland ; and in Africa, betAveen the Cape of Good Hope and the Tropic of 
Cancer, The special object of its enterprise was Noav Netherland, and espe- 
cially the region of the Mauritius.^ The company was not completely organized 

' Page 144. - Page 63. 

3 See Brodheacl's " Ilistory of the State of New York," Appendix E, where the matter is dis- 
cussed at some length. ^ jSTote 7, page 59. s page 71. 



1620.] 



MASSACHUSETTS. 



until the spring of 1G23, when it commenced operations with vigor. Its first 
efforts were to pUmt a permanent colonj, and thus establish a plausible pretext 
for territorial jurisdiction, for now the English had built rude cabins on the 
shores of Massachusetts Bay.' In April, 1623, thirty families, chiefly Wal- 
loons (French Protestants who had fled to Holland), arrived at Manhattan, 
under the charge of Cornelius Jacobsen INIay, Avho Avas sent to reside in New 
Netherland, as first director, or governor. Eight of the fam- 
ilies went up the jNIauritius or Hudson River, and settled at 
Albany ; the remainder chose their place of abode across the 
channel of the East River, and settled upon lands now cov- 
ered by the eastern portions of Brooklyn, and the Navy 
Yard.^ Then were planted the fruitful seeds of a Dutch 
colony — then were laid the foundations of the future com- 
monwealth of New York.' The territory was erected into 
a province and the armorial distinction of a count was 
granted.* 




SEAL OF NEW NETH- 
ERLAND. 



CHAPTER III. 

MASSACHUSETTS [IGOG— 1G20]. 

Soon after obtaining their charter, in 160G, the PLYMOUTH Company^ 
dispatched an agent in a small vessel, with two captive Indians, to examine 
North Virginia. This vessel was captured by a Spanish cruiser. Another ves- 
sel, fitted out at the sole expense of Sir John Popham, and commanded by 
IMartin Pring, was sent, and reached America. Pring confirmed the accounts 
of Gosnold and others," concerning the beauty and fertility of the New England 
region. The following year [1607], George Popham' came, with one hundred 
immigrants, and landing at the mouth of the Sagadahoc or Kennebec [August 
21], they erected there a small stockade, a storehouse, and a few huts. All 
but forty-five returned to England in the vessels ; those remained, and named 
their settlement St. George. A terrible winter ensued. Fire consumed their 
store-house and some of their provisions, and the keen frosts and deep snows 



» Page 78. 

^ The first white child born in New Netherland was Sarah Rapeljc, daughtci* of one of the 
"Walloon settlers. Her birth occurred on the Ith of June, 1625. She has a number of descendants 
on Long Island. ^ Page goi- 

^ Several hundred years ago, there were large districts of country in England, and on the con- 
tinent, governed by Earls, who were subject to the crown, however. The.'^c districts were called 
counties, and the name is still retained, even in the United States, and indicates certain judicial and 
other jurisdiction. New Netherland was constituted a county of Holland, having all the individual 
privileges appertaining to an earldom, or separate government. Tiie armorial distinction of an carl, 
or count, was a kind of cap, called coronet, seen over the shield in the aljove engraved repre- 
sentation of the seal of New Netherland. The figure of a beaver, on the shield, is emblematic of 
the Hudson Pviver regions (where that animal then abounded), and of one of the grand objects of 
settlement there, the trade in furs. * Page G3. " Page 58. ^ Note 2, page G3. 



74 SETTLEMENTS. [1606. 

locked the Avaters and the forests against the fisherman and hunter. Famine 
menaced them, but relief came before anj were made victims. Of all the com- 
pany, only Popham. their president, died. Lacking courage to brave the perils 
of the -svilderness, the settlement was abandoned, and the immigrants went back 
to England [1608] at the very time when the Frenchmen, who were to build 
Quebec,' Avere upon the ocean. Traffic with the Indian tribes was continued, 
but settlements were not again attempted for several years.'' 

Only the coast of the extensive country was seen by the several navigators 
who visited it. Tho vast interior, now called New England, was an unknown 
land, until Captain John Smith, with the mind of a philosopher and the courage 
of a hero, came, in 1614, and explored, not only the shores but the rivers 
which penetrated the wilderness. Only himself and four London merchants 
had an interest in the expedition, which proved highly successful, not only in 
discoveries, but in trade. With only eight men. Smith examined the region 
between Cape Cod and the Penobscot, constructed a map of the country, and 
after an absence of less than seven months, he returned to England, and laid a 
report before Prince Charles (afterward the unfortunate king who lost his head), 
the heir apparent to the throne. The prince, delighted with the Avhole account, 
confirmed the title which Smith had given to the territory delineated on the 
map, and it was named New England. Crime, as usual, dimmed the luster 
of the discovery. Hunt, commander of one of the vessels of the expedition, 
kidnapped twenty-seven of the Indians, with Squanto,^ their chief, as soon as 
Smith had departed, took them to Spain and sold some of them into slavery.* 
And now, at various points from Florida to Newfoundland, men-stealers of dif- 
ferent nations, had planted the seeds of hatred and distrust,'^ whose fruits, in 
after years were wars, and complicated troubles. 

At the close of 1614, the Plymouth company employed Smith to make 
further explorations in America and to plant a colony. He sailed in the spring 
of 1615, but was driven back by a tempest. He sailed again on the 4th of 
July folloAving. His crew became mutinous, and finally his vessel was cap- 
tured by a French pirate, and they were all taken to France. Smith escaped 
to England, in an open boat, and arousing the sluggish energies of the Ply- 
mouth company and others, they planned vast schemes of colonization, and he 
was made admiral for life. Eager for gains, some of the members, joining 
with others, applied for a new charter. It was withheld for a long time. 
Finally, the king granted a charter [November 3, 1620] to forty of the wealth- 
iest and most powerful men in the realm, who assumed the corporate title of The 
Council of Plyjiouth, and superseded the original Plymouth Coimpany." 
The vast domain of more than a million of square miles, lying between the fortieth 
and forty-eighth degree of north latitude, and westward to the South Sea,^ 

' Page 49. 

- Tlie celebrated Lord Bacon, and others, fitted out an expedition to Newfoundland in 1610, 
but it was unsuccessful. ' Page 114. 

* When some benevolent friars heard of Hunt's intentions, they took all of the Indians not yet 
sold, to instruct tliera as missiojiaries. Among them was Squanto. 

'' See pages 42 and 49. " Page 63. 7 Page 42. 



1G20.] MASSACHUSETTS. 75 

was conveyed to them, as absolute owners of the soil. It was the finest portion 
of the Continent, and now embraces the most flourishing States and Territories 
of our confederacy. This vast monopoly was unpropitious, in all its elements, 
to the founding of an empire. It was not the will of God that mere speculators 
and mercenary adventurers like these should people this broad land. The same 
year when that great commercial monopoly was formed [1620], a company of 
devout men and women in Holland, who had been driven from England by a 
persecuting government, came to the wilderness of the New World, not to seek 
gold and return, but to erect a tabernacle, where they might worship tlie Great 
God in honest simplicity and freedom, and to plant in the wilderness the found- 
ation of a commonwealth, based upon truth and justice. AYho were they? 
Let History ansAver. 

Because the pope of Rome Avould not sanction one of the most flagrant of 
his social crimes, Henry the Eighth of England defied the authority of the 
head of the Church," and by the Act of Si/pre}7iaaj,"' Parliament also cast 
off" the papal yoke. The people were not benefited, for the king was pope of 
Great Britain, and they were his slaves. They enjoyed no religious freedom. 
Heresy was a high crime ; and expressions of freedom of thought and opinion 
were not tolerated. The doctrines and rituals of the Romish church were 
enforced, Avhile the anthoritij of the pope was denied. The people discovered 
that in exchanging spiritual masters, they had gained nothing, except that the 
thunders of excommunication' had lost their effect upon the public mind, and 
thus one step toward emancipation was gained. Henry's son, Edward, estab- 
lished a more liberal Protestantism in England [1574], and 
soon the followers of Luther and Calvin* drew the tangible 
line of doctrinal difference Avhich existed between them. The 
former retained or allowed many of the ceremonials of the 
church of Rome ; the latter were more austere, and demanded 
extreme simplicity in worship, and great purity of life. For 
this they Avei'e called Puritans, in derision ; a name which 
soon became honorable. When Parliament established a 
liturgy for the church, the Puritans refused conformity, for 
they acknowledged no authority but the Bible in matters of 
religion. They became a distinct and influential party in 
the State [1550], and were specially commended by the con- ^ puritan. 

tinental reformers. 

' The vicious king asked Pope Julius HI. to divorce him from his queen, Catherine of Arra.u'on, 
in order tliat lie mip:ht marry tlie beautiful Anne Boleyn. TIio Pope properly refused to give liis 
sanction to the crime; and the licentious monarch, who had been so much of a friend Avitli the 
Roman Pontiff as to receive tlie title of " Defender of the Faith," quarreled with the Pontifi', and 
professed Protestantism. See Note 14, page 62. 

■^ An Act of Parhament, adopted in 1534, which declared the king of England the superior head 
of tlie Cliurcli in that realm, and made Protestantism the established rchgion of England. 

^ The Pope of Rome assumes the right to excommunicate, or expel from Cliristian communion, 
whomsoever ho pleases. In former times, even kings were not exempt. An excommunicated 
person lost social caste ; and for centuries this was an iron rod in the hand of ecclesiastics to keep 
the people in submission to spiritual authority. Happily for mankind, this species of despotism has 
lost its power, and commands the obedience of only the ignorant and enslaved. 

* See note 14, page G2. Calvin was the leading French Reformer. 




76 SETTLEMENTS. [1606. 

Romanism was re-established in England in 1553, by Mary, the daughter 
and successor of Henry the Eighth, who was a bigoted persecutor of Protestants 
of every name. Lutherans and Calvinists were equally in peril. The fires of 
persecution were lighted, and the first Protestant martyrs were consumed at the 
stake.' Her reign was short, and she is known in history as the bloody Mary. 
She was succeeded by her half-sister, Elizabeth, in 1558, who was a professed 
Protestant, and the flames were extinguished. Elizabeth was no Puritan. 
She endeavored to reconcile the magnificent rituals of the Romish Church with 
the simple requisitions of the gospel. There was no affinity, and trouble 
ensued. The Puritans, struggling for power, asserted, in all its grandeur, the 
doctrine of private judgment in religious matters, and of untrammeled religious 
liberty. From this high position, it Avas but a step to the broad rock of civil 
freedom. The Puritan pulpits became the pulpits of the common people, and 
the preachers often promulgated the doctrine, that the sovereifjn ivas amenable 
to public opinion when fairly expressed. This was the very essence of demo- 
cratic doctrine, and evinced a boldness hitherto unparalleled. The jealousy 
and the fears of the queen were aroused ; and after several years of effort, the 
Thirty-nine Articles of belief, which constitute the rule of faith in the Church 
of England, were confirmed [1571] by an Act of Parliament. 

And now bigotry in power began its wicked work. In 1583, a court of 
high commission was established, for the detection and punishment of Non- 
Conformists," with powers almost as absolute as the Roman Inquisition. Per- 
secution began its work in earnest, and continued active for twenty years. The 
Puritans looked to the accession of James of Scotland, which took place in 
1604,^ with hope, but were disappointed. He was the most contemptible mon- 
arch that ever disgraced the chair of supreme government in England. A 
brilliant English writer* says, "He Avas cunning, covetous, wasteful, idle, 
drunken, greedy, dirty, cowardly, a great swearer, and the most conceited man 
on earth." The pure in heart could expect no consideration from such a man. 
When he was fairly seated on the English throne, he said of the Puritans, "I 
will make them conform or I will harrie thein out of the land." There were 
then more than thirty thousand of them in England. During the first year of 
James's reign, three hundred of their ministers were silenced, imprisoned, or 
exiled. The long struggle of the established church with the Roman Catholics 
on one hand, and the Puritans on the other, was now decided. It had been a 
struggle of three quarters of a century, not so much for toleration as for 
supremacy ; and the Church of England Avas the final victor. During these 
trials, England lost some of her best men. Amonn; the devout ones Avho fled 



' ,T()lin Rogers, a pious minister, and John ITooper, Bisliop of Gloucester, were the first who 
suffered. 

^ This was tlie title of all those Protestants in England who refused to conform to the doctrines 
and ceremonials of the Established Church. This name was first given in 1572. Ninety years 
afterward [1662], 2,000 ministers of the Established Church, unwilling to subscribe to the Thirty- 
nine Articles, seceded, and were called Dissenters ; a name yet applied to all British Protestants 
who are not attached to the Church of England. 

3 See note 1, page 63. * Charles Dickens. 



1620.] MASSACHUSETTS. 77 

from persecution, was the Reverend John Robinson, pastor of a flock gathered 
m the northern counties. Informed that there was ' ' freedom of religion for-all 
men in HoUand," he fled thither, with his people, in 1608, and e.stablished a 
church at Lejden. They were soon joined by others from their native country. 
Their purity of life and lofty independence commanded the admiration of the 
Dutch ; and their loyalty to the country from which they had l)een driven, was 
respected as a noble virtue. There they learned many of those sound political 
maxims which lie at the foundation of our own government ; for there those 
principles of civil liberty, which lay almost dormant in theory, in England, 
were found in daily practice. 

At Leyden, the English exiles were charmed by the narratives of the Dutch 
voyagers to America. They felt that they had now no home, no abiding place 
— that they were only Pilgkims — and they resolved to go to the New World, 
far away from persecutions, where they might establish a colony, with religious 
freedom for its basis. A deputation went to England in 1617,' and through the 
influence of powerful friends," obtained the consent of the Plymouth Company 
to settle in North Virginia,* and also a promise from the king that he would 
wink at their heresy, and let them alone in their new home. They asked no 
more. Some London merchants formed a partnership with them, and furnished 
capital for the expedition.* Captain John Smith, 
the founder of Virginia and explorer of New En- 
gland, offered his services, but on account of his 
aristocratic notions, they were declined. Two 
ships {^Speedwell and Maij-Fhwei-) were pur- 
chased and furnished, 5 and in the summer of 1620, 
a portion of the Pilgrbns in Holland — "the 
youngest and strongest" — embarked from Delft- 
Haven for England." Robinson and the lars-er 
portion of his flock remained at Leyden till a more may^flower. 

convenient season,' and elder Brewster accompanied 

the voyagers as their spiritual guide. The two ships left Southampton, 
in England, on the 5th of August, 1620. The courage of the captain and 
company of the Speedwell failed, and the vessels put back to port. The sails 
of the May-Flower were again spread, in the harbor of Plymouth, on the 6th 



* John Carver and Robert Cushman. 

"^ Sir Edward Sandys [page 105] was one of their cliicf advocates in England. ^ Page Ci. 

^ The services of each emigrant were valued as a capital of ten pounds, and belonged to the 
company. All profits were to be reserved till the end of seven j^ears, wlicn all the lands, houses, 
and every production of their joint industry, were to be valued, and tlio amount divided among the 
sharehoMers, according to their respective interests. This was a community of interest, similar, in 
character, to those which have been proposed and attempted in our day, under the respective titles 
of Connnunism, Fourierism, and Sociahsm. It fiiiled to accomplish its intended purpose, and was 
abandoned. 

* The Speedivell was a vessel of GO tons; the May-Floioei- of 180 tons. 

* See engraving on page 104. This is a copy of a picture of 77/e EmJ>arl;ation of the Pilgrims, 
m the Rotimda of the Federal Capitol, painted by Professor Robert "W. "Weir, of the Military 
Aeaden>y, at West Point, New York. 

' Mr. Robmson was never permitted to see America. Xotes 3, and 5, page 116. 




78 SETTLEMENTS. [ICOG. 

of September, and fortj-one men, most of them with families' (one hundred and 
one in all) — the winnowed remnant of the Pilgrims Avho left Delft-Haven — 
crossed the stormy Atlantic. These were they Avho came to the New World to 
enjoy liberty of conscience and freedom of action, and to lay, broad and deep, a 
portion of the foundations of our happy Republic. After a boisterous passage 
of sixty-three days, thee May-Flover anchored within Cape Cod." Before 
proceeding to the shore, the Pilgrims agreed upon a form of government, and 
committed it to Avriting.^ To that^/-5^ constitution of (jovernment ever sub- 
scribed by a whole people, the forty-one men affixed their names, and then 
elected John Carver to be their governor." In the cabin of the May-Flower 
the first republican government in America was solemnly inaugurated. That 
vessel thus became truly the cradle of liberty in America, rocked on the free 
waves of the ocean. 

The May-Flower was tossed about on the ocean for two long months, and 
the approach to land was a joyful event for the settlers. Exploring parties 
were sent out,^ and after many hardships, they selected a place for landing. It 
was on the 22d day of December, 1620, that the Pilgrim Fathers first set 
foot upon a bare rock on the bleak coast of Massachusetts Bay, while all 
around, the earth was covered with deep snow.® They called the landing-place 



" The following: are their names: Jolin Carver, "William Bradford, Edward Winslow, William 
Brewster, Isaac Allerton, Captain Miles Standish, John Alden, Samuel Fuller, Christopher Martin, 
William Mulhns, William White, Richard Warren, Jolm Rowland, Stephen Hopkins, Edward Tilly, 
John Tilly, Peter Brown, Ricliard Britteridge, George Soule, Richard Clark, Richard Gardiner. 
Francis Cook, Thomas Rogers, Thomas Tinker, John Ridgdale, Edward Fuller, John Turner, Fran- 
cis Eaton. James Chilton, John Crackston, John Billington, Moses Fletclicr, John Goodman, I)egory 
Priest, Thomas WiUiams, Gilbert Wiaslow, Edward Margeson, John Allerton, Thomas English, Ed- 
ward Dotey, Edward Leister. Rowland was Carver's servant ; Soule Avas Winslow's servant ; and 
Dotey and Leister were servants of Hopkins. 

* The foolish statement has often been made, that tlie Pilgrims intended to land at Manhattan 
Island (New York), but the commander of the May-Flmver, having been bribed by the Dutch to do 
so, landed them further east beyond the Dutch possessions. Tlie storj- is a fable. Coppin, the 
pilot, had been on the coast of New England before, and, in navigating the May-Flower, he only 
followed his old track. V 

^ The following is a copy of the instrument: "In the name of God, Amen. We, whose names 
are underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread sovereigii lord, king James, by the grace of God, 
of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, king, deiender of the faith, etc., having undertaken, lor the glory 
of God and the advancement of the Christian faith, and honor of our king and country, a voyage to 
plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia, do, by these presents, solemnly and mutually, 
in the presence of God and of one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil 
body politic, for our better ordering and preservation, and furtherance of the cuds aforesaid ; and by 
virtue hereof, to enact, constitute, and frame just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions. 
and offices fi'ofii time to time, as sliall be thought most meet and convenient tor the general good 
of the colony; unto which we promise all due submission and obedience. In witness whereof wo 
have hereto subscribed our names, at Cape Cod, the 11th of November, in the year of the reign of 
our sovereign Lord, King James of England, France, and Ireland, the Eighteenth, and of Scotland 
the Fifty -fourth. Anno Domini, 1620." 

^ John Carver was born in England, went with Robinson to Holland, and on the 3d of April, 
1621, while governor of the Plymouth colony, he died. 

* Their leader was Miles Standisli, a brave soldier, who had served in the Netherlands. He 
was very active in the colony as military commander-in-chief^ in both fighting and treating with the 
Indians, and is called " The Hero of New England." Re was a magistrate many years, and died 
at Duxbury, Massachusetts, in 1656. 

" While the explorers were searching for a landmg-place, the wife of William White, a bride but 
a short time Ijefore leaving Holland, gave birth to a son, "the first Englislunan born in New En- 
gland." They named him Peregrine, and the cradle in which he was rocked is yet preserved. He 
died in Marshfield in 1704. 



1680.] NEW RAM PS HIRE. 79 

New Plymouth, and there a flourishing village is now spread out.' Dreary, 
indeed, was the prospect before them. Exposure and priva- 
tions had prostrated one half of the men before the first blow 
of the axe had been struck to erect a habitation. Faith and 
hope nerved the arms of the healthy, and they began to build. 
One by one perished. The governor and his Avifc died on 
the 3d of April, 1G21 ; and on the first of that month, forty- 
six of the one hundred immigrants were in their graves. Nine- 
teen of these were signers to the Constitution. At one time chair.^ 
only seven men were capable of assisting the sick. Fortun- 
ately, the neighboring tribes, weakened by a pestilence,^ did not molest them. 
Spring and summer came. Game became plenty in the forest, and they caught 
many fishes from the waters. They sowed and reaped, and soon friends from 
England joined them.^ The settlement, begun with so much sorrow and sufier- 
ing, became permanent, and then and there the foundations of the common- 
wealth of Massachusetts were laid. 




CHAPTER lY. 

NEW HAMPSHIRE. [1622-1680.] 

The enterprising Sir Fernando Gorges, who, for many years, had been 
engaged in traffic with the Indians on the New England coast, projected a set- 
tlement fu^^ther eastward than Plymouth, and for that purpose became associ- 
ated with John Mason, a merchant, afterward a naval commander, and always 
"a man of action." Mason Avas secretary to the Plymouth Council, for New 
England,* and was well acquainted with all matters pertaining to settlements in 
the New World. Gorges and Mason obtained a grant of land in 1622, extend- 
ing from the Merrimac to the Kennebec, and inland to the St. Lawrence. 
They named the territory Laconia. Mason had obtained a grant the previous 
year, extending from Salem to the movith of the Merrimac, which he had named 
Mariana. The same year, a colony of fishermen, under David Thompson, 
seated themselves at Little Harbor, on the Piscataqua River, just below Ports- 
mouth. Another party, under two brothers named Hilton, London fishmong- 
ers, commenced a settlement, in 1623, a fcAv miles above, at Dover ; but these 
were only fishing stations, and did not flourish. 

' "Plymouth Rock" i.s famous. It is now [1856] in two pieces. One part remains in its orig- 
inal position at Hedge's Wharf) Plymouth; the other is in the center of the town, surrounded by an 
iron railing. It was dragged thither, in 1774, by twenty j-oke of oxen, and over it the Whigs [note 
4, page 226] erected a liberty-pole. 

* This was the throne upon which sat the first Christian monarch of New England. Governor 
Carver was at the head of a new State, and, as chief magistrate, held the same relative position as 
kins: James of England, whose seat was richly ornamented and covered with a canopy of silk ;uid 
gold. ' Pago 114. * Page 115. '• Page 74. 



80 SETTLEMENTS. [1634. 

In the year 1629, the Rev. Mr. Wheelwright (a brother-in-law of the cele- 
brated Anne Hutchinson, who was banished from the Massachusetts colony on 
a charge of sedition, in 1637) purchased from the Indians the wilderness be- 
tween the Merrimac and the Piscataqua, and founded Exeter. The same year 
Mason obtained from Gorges exclusive ownership of that same portion of La- 
CONIA. He named the domain New Hampshire, and in 1631 built a house 
upon the site of Portsmouth, the name Avliich he gave to the spot.^ Other set- 
tlements upon the Piscataqua, and along the present coast of Maine, as far as 
Portland, were attempted. At the latter place a company had a grant of land 
forty mile.3 square, and formed an agricultural settlement in 1631, called 
LiGONiA.^ Pemaquid Point was another settlement, which remained an inde- 
pendent community for almost forty years. Trading houses Avere established 
as far east as Z\Iachias, but tliey were broken up by the French, and the west- 
ern limits of Acadie were fixed at Pemaquid Point, about half way from 
the Peno1)scot to the Kennebec. The several feeble and scattered settlements 
in New Hampshire formed a coalition with the flourishing Massachusetts colony 
in 1641, and remained dependencies of that province until 1680, when they 
were separated by order of the king, and New Hampshire became a royal prov- 
ince. Its first government consisted of a governor and council appointed by 
the king, and a house of representatives elected by the people. Then was 
founded the commonwealth of New Hampshire. 



CHAPTER V. 

MARYLAND. [1634.] 

A large portion of the American colonies were the fruitful growth of the 
seeds of civil liberty. Avafted hither by the fierce gales of oppression in some 



' Mason had been governor of Portsmouth, in Hampshire County, England, and these names 
were given in memory of his former residence. 

^ The people of these eastern settlements, which formed the basis of the present commonwealth 
of Maixe, did not like the government attempted to be established by the proprietor, and, takino- 
political power into their own hands, placed themselves under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts in 
1652. The territory was erected into a countj-, and called Yorkshire. In 1621, king James, as 
sovereign of Scotland, placed the Scottish seal to a charter granting to Sir William Alexander, after- 
ward [1633] earl of Stirling, the whole territory eastward of the State of Maine, under the title of 
Nova Scotia, or New Scotland. The French had already occupied places along the coast, and called 
the country Acadie. The Scotch proprietor never attempted settlements, either in this territory or in 
Canada which Charles the First had granted to him, and the whole country had passed into the hands 
of the French, by treaty. The earl died in 1640, and all connection of his family with Nova Scotia 
ceased. His title was held afterward by four successors, the last of whom died in 1739. In 1759, 
William Alexander (General Lord Stirling during our War for Independence) made an unsuccessful 
claim to the title. The next claimant was Alexander Humphrey, who commenced operations in 
the Scottish courts in 1815, and by forgeries and frauds was partiality successful. The whole was 
exposed in 1833. Humphrey was in this country in 1852, pressing liis claims to the monopoly of 
the Eastern Fisheries, by virtue of the grants of kings James and Charles more than two hundred 
years ago! 



1634.] MARYLAND. 31 

form. Mary land, occupying a space between North and South Virginia,* was 
first settled by persecuted Roman Catholics from England and Ireland. While 
king James worried the Puritans on one hand, for non-conformity,'' the Roman 
Catholics, at the other end of the religious scale, were subjected to even more 
severe penalties. As the Puritans increased in numbers and influence, their 
cry against the Roman Catholics grew louder and fiercer ; and, while defend- 
ing themselves from persecution with one hand, they were inflicting as severe a 
lash upon the Romanists with the other. Thus subjected to twofold opposition, 
the condition of the Roman Catholics became deplorable, and, in common with 
other sufferers for opinion's sake, their eyes were turned toward free America. 
Among the most influential professors of Catholicism was George Calvert, an 
active member of the London Company,-' and Secretary of State at the time 
when the Pilgrims^ were preparing to emigrate to America. He was so much 
more loyal in action to his sovereign than to his faith, that he did not lose the 
king's favor, although frankly professing to be a Roman Catholic ; and for his 
services he was created an Irish peer in 1621, with the title of Lord Baltimore. 
He also obtained from James, a grant [1622] to plant a Roman Catholic colony 
on a portion of Newfoundland. He called the territory Avalox, but his scheme 
was not successful. The barren soil, and French aggressors from Acadie. were 
too much for the industry and courage of his colonists, and the settlement was 
abandoned. 

Foiled in his projects in the east, Lord Baltimore went to Virginia in 1628, 
with a view of establishing a colony of his brethren there. But he found the 
Virginians as intolerant as the crown of the Puritans, and he turned his back 
upon their narrow prejudices, and went to examine the beautiful, unoccupied 
region beyond the Potomac. He was pleased with the country, and applied for 
a charter to establish a colony there. The London Company was now dis- 
solved,^ and the soil had become the property of the monarch. King Charles 
the First, then on the throne, readily granted a charter, but before it was com- 
pleted. Lord Baltimore died. This event occurred on the 25th of April, 1632, 
and on the 20th of June following, the patent was issued to Cecil, his son and 
heir. In honor of the queen, Henrietta jNIaria,'^ the 
province was called Maryland. The territory de- 
fined in the charter extended along each side of 
Chesapeake Bay, from the 30th to the 45th degree 
of north latitude, its western line being the waters of 
the Potomac. 

It is believed that the jNIaryland charter was 
drawn by the first Lord Baltimore's own hand. It 
was the most liberal one yet granted by an Englisli 
monarch, both in respect of the proprietor and the 
settlers. The government of the province was inde- ^■''^■"•' «^'^o^'° ^o*^" Baltimore. 




P.-iore G.3. » Xote 2, page 76. ' Page 63. •* Pa-re 77. ' Pa^ 107. 

She was a Roman Catholic, and sister of Louis the Thirteenth of Franco. 

6 



82 SETTLEMENTS. [1G32. 

pendent of the crown, and equality in religious rights and civil freedom was 
bccured to everj Christian sect. Unitarians, or those "who denied the doctrine 
of the Trinity, as well as all unbelievers in Divine revelation, were not covered 
bj this mantle of toleration. The king had no power to levy the smallest tax 
upon the colonists, and all laAvs were invalid until sanctioned by a majority of 
the freemen, or their deputies. Under such a wise and liberal charter the 
colony, Avhen planted, flourished remarkably, for those persecuted by the 
Puritans in New England, and the Churchmen in "N'irginia, there sought 
refuge, and found peace. 

Emigration to Maryland commenced in 1633. The first company, mostly 
Roman Catholics, sailed for America on the 2d of December of that year, 
under Leonard Calvert, brother of the proprietor, and appointed governor of 
the province. They arrived in March, 1634, and after sailing up the Potomac, 
as far as INIount Vernon, they descended the stream, almost to its mouth. 
They landed upon an estuary of the Chesapeake, purchased an Indian village, 
and laid the foundation of a town [April, 1634], Avhich they named St. Mary.' 
The honesty of Calvert, in paying for the land, secured the good will of the 
Indians ; and, unlike the first settlers of most of the other colonies, they experi- 
enced no sufferino-s from want, or the hostilities of the Aboriginals. 

Popular government was first organized in Maryland on the 8th of March, 
1635, Avlien the first legislative assembly was convened at St. Mary. Every 
freeman being allowed to vote, it was a purely democratic legislature. As the 
number of colonists increased, this method of making laws was found to be in- 
convenient, and in 1639, a representative government was established, the 
people being allowed to send as many delegates as they pleased. The first rep- 
resentative assembly made a declaration of rights, defined the powers of the 
proprietor, and took measures to secure to the colonists all the civil liberties 
enjoyed by the people of Old England. Then was founded the commonwealth 
of Maryland. 



CHAPTER Yl. 

CONNECTICUT. [1G32— 1639.] 

Adrian Block,^ tlie Dutch navigator, discovered and explored the Con- 
necticut River, as far as the site of Hartford, in 1614, and named it Vcrsc/ie, 

* Trading posts were established a little earlier than this, within the Maryland province. In 
1 r,31, William Clayborne obtained a license from the king to traffic with the Indians ; and when 
("alvert and his company came, he had two settlements, one on Kent Island, nearly opposite An- 
napolis, and another at the present Havre de Grace, at the mouth of the Susquehannah. He refused 
to acknowledge the authority of Baltimore, and trouble ensued. He collected his people on tlie 
eastern shore of Mar3rland in 1635, with a determination to defend his claims by force of arms; and 
in May quite a severe skirmish ensued between his forces and those of tlie colonists. Cla3'borne's 
men were taken prisoners, and he fled to Virginia. He was declared guilty of treason, and sent to 
England for trial. His estates were forfeited ; but, being acquitted of the charge, he returned to 
Maryland and incited a rebellion. See page 151. " Page 72. 






■^^ ?- 




ITooKEii's Emigration to Coxnecticut. 



1639.] CONNECTICUT. 85 

or FresJi Water River.' Soon afterward Dutch traders were upon it.3 banks, 
and might have carried on a peaceful and profitable traffic with the Indians, had 
honor and honesty marked their course. But the avaricious agent of the Dutch, 
imprisoned an Indian chief on board Iiis vessel, and would not release him until 
one hundred and forty fathoms of wampum^ had been paid. The exasperated 
Indians menaced the traders, and near the site of Hartford, at a place yet known 
as Dutch Point, the latter commenced the erection of a fort. The Indians were 
finally conciliated, and, at their request, the fort was abandoned for awhile. 

A friendly intercourse was opened between the Dutch of New Netherland 
and the Puritans in 1627.^ With the guise of friendship, but really for the 
purpose of strengthening the claims of the Dutch to the Connecticut valley, by 
having an English settlement there under the jurisdiction of New Netherland, 
Governor Minuit^ advised the Puritans to leave the barren land of Massachusetts 
Bay, and settle in the fertile region of the Fresh Water River. In 1631, a 
Mohegan chief, then at war with the powerful Pequods,* desirous of havini'- a 
strong barrier betAveen himself and his foes, urged the English to come and 
settle in the Connecticut valley. The Puritans clearly perceived the selfish 
policy of both parties, and hesitated to leave. The following year [1032], 
however, Governor Winslow, of the Plymouth colony," visited that fertile region, 
and, delighted with its appearance, resolved to promote emigration thither. 
In the mean while, the Council of Plymouth^ had granted the soil of Connecticut 
[1630] to the Earl of Warwicke, who, in 1G31, transferred his interest to Lord 
Say-and-Seal, Lord Brooke, John Hampden, and others. The eastern bound- 
ary of the territory was " Narraganset River," and the western (like all other 
charters at that time) was the South Sea, or Pacific Ocean. '^ The Dutch 
became apprised of these movements of the English ; and perceiving no advan- 
tage (but detriment) to themselves, they purchased of the Indians the land at 
Hartford and vicinity, completed their fort, and placed two cannons upon it, in 
1633, with the intention of preventing the English ascending the river. 

Although the Plymouth people were aware of the preparations made by 
the Dutch, to defend their claim, they did not hesitate, and in October, 1633, 
Captain William Holmes and a chosen company arrived in the Connecticut 
River, in a sloop. Holmes bore a commission from Governor Winslow to make 
a settlement, and brought with him the frame of a house. When he approached 
the Dutch fort, the commander menaced him with destruction if he attempted 
to pass it. Holmes was not intimidated, and sailing by unhurt, he landeil at 
the site of Windsor, and there erected his house. Seventy men were sent by 
the Dutch the following year, to drive him from the country. They were kept 
at bay, and finally a parley resulted in peaceful relations." Holmes's colony 
flourished, and in the autumn of 1635, a party of sixty men. women, and chil- 
dren, from the Puritan settlements, commenced a journey througli the Avilder- 



' Connecticut is the English orthography of the Indian word Quon-eh-ta-cut, which signifies '• the 
long river." ^ Probablv about four hundred dollars. See note 2, page 13. 

^ Pago 75. ■* Page 139. " ^ Page 21. ° Page 79. 

' Page 74. ' Page 42. ' See note 2, page 142. 



86 SETTLEMENTS. [1G32. 

ncss [Oct. 25] to join him. With their cattle/ they made their slow and dreary 

way a hundred miles through dark forests and dismal swamps ; and Avhen they 

arrived upon the banks of the Connecticut [Nov. 25 J, the ground was covered 

with deep snow, and the river was frozen. It was a winter of great trial for 

them. Many cattle perished.^ A vessel bearing food for the colony was lost 

on the coast, and the settlers Avere compelled to subsist upon acorns, and scanty 

supplies of Indian corn from the natives. IMany of them made their way to the 

fort, then just erected at Saybrook, near the mouth of the river, and returned 

to Boston by water. Spring opened, and the necessities of 

*• , those who remained were supplied. They erected a small 

■^^ ^Mk. house for worship on the site of Hartford, and in April, 

I ^ ^w 1636, the first court, or organized government was held 

'■^~ ^-^—' there. At about the time when this company departed, a 

^' L \ ■.'■Irt '- ^^^ ^^ Governor Winthrop,^ of Massachusetts, Hugh Peters, 
-^"^ ^^^^"^^0^1^' and Henry Vane, arrived at Boston from England, as com- 
FiRST MEETiNu-uousE. missiouers for the proprietor's of Connecticut, with instruc- 
tions to build a fort at the mouth of the river of that name, 
and to plant a colony there. The fort was speedily built, and the settlement 
was named Saybrook, in honor of the two peers named in the charter.* 

Another migration of Puritans to the Connecticut valley, more important, 
and with better results, now took place. In June* 1636, Rev. Thomas Hooker, 
the "light of the western chui-ches,"^ with other ministers, their families, and 
flocks, in all about one hundred, left the vicinity of Boston for the new land 
of promise. It was a toilsome journey through the swamps and forests. They 
subsisted upon berries and the milk of their cows which they took Avith them, 
and on the 4th of July, they stood upon the beautiful banks of the Connecticut. 
On the 9th, INIr. Hooker preached and administered the communion in the little 
meeting-house at Hartford, and there a great portion of the company settled. 
Some chose Wethersfield for a residence ; and others, from Roxbury, went up 
the river twenty miles, and settled at Springfield. There v>fere now five dis- 
tinct English settlements upon the Connecticut River, yet they were scattered 
and weak. 

Clouds soon appeared in the morning sky, and the settlers in the Connecti- 
cut valley perceived the gathering of a fearful storm. The powerful Pequod 
Indians" became jealous of the Avhite people, because they appeared to be the 
friends of their enemies, the Mohegans on the west, and of their more powerful 
foes, the Narragansetts, on the east. They first commenced petty annoyances ; 
then kidnapped children, murdered rncn in the forests, and attacked families on 



' This was the first introduction of cattle into Connecticut. 

■ The loss in cattle was estimated at about one thousand dollars. 

' Page 117. , " Page 85. 

'" Thomas Hooker was a native of Leicestershire, England, where he was born in 1586. He 
was silenced, because of his non-conformit}^, in 1630, when he left the ministry, and founded a 
grammar school at Cambridge. He was compelled to flee to Holland, from whence he came to 
America with Mr. Cotton, in 1633. He was a man of great benevolence, and was eminently use- 
ful. He died in Julj^, 1647, at the age of sixty-one years. " Page 21. 



1639.] CONNECTICUT. 37 

the outskirts of the settlement at Sajbrook. Their allies of Block Island' cap- 
tured a Massachusetts trading vessel, killed the captain" [July, 1G3GJ, and 
plundered her. The Puritans in the cast were alarmed and indignant, and an 
inefficient expedition from Boston and vicinity penetrated the Pe(|Uod country. 
It (lid more harm than good, for it resulted only in increasing the hatred and 
hostility of the savages. The Pequods became bolder, and finally sought an 
alliance with their enemies, the Narragansetts, in an effort to exterminate the 
white people. At this critical moment a deliverer appeared when least expected. 
Roger Williami, who for his tolerant opinion:i had been banislicd from 
^lassaehusetts,^ was now a friendly resident in the country of the I^arragan- 
setts, and heard of the proposed alliance. Forgetting the many injuries he had 
received, he warned the doomed people of the Bay colony, of impending danger. 
At the risk of his own life, he descended Narraganset Bay in an open canoe, 
on a stormy day, and visited Miantonomoh, the renowned sachem, at his 
seat near New})ort, while the Pequod embassadors were there in council. The 
latter menaced Williams with death ; yst that good man remained there three 
days, and effectually prevented the alliance.'' And more — he induced the Nar- 
ragansetts to renew hostilities with the Pequods. By tli:.5 generous service the 
infant settlements were saved from destruction. 

Although foded m their attempt at alliance, the Pequods were not dis- 
heartened. During the ensuing winter they continued their murderous depre- 
dations. In the sprmg, the authorities of the English settlements on the 
Connecticut declared war against the Pequods [May, 1637], and the Massachu- 
setts and Plymouth colonies agreed to aid them. Soon, Captain INIason, who 
was in command of the fort at Saybrook," and Captain John Underbill, a brave 
and restless man, sailed in some pinnaces, with about eighty wdiite men and 
seventy ^lohegan Indians under Uncas,"^ for Narraganset Bay. There Mian- 
tonomoh, with two hundred warriors, joined them, and they marched for the 
Pequod country. Their ranks were swollen by the brave Niantics and others, 
until five hundred '•bowmen and spearmen" were in the train of Captain.3 
Mason and Underbill. 

The chief sachem of the Pequods, was Sassacus, a fierce warrior, and the 
terror of the New England tribes.' He could summon almost two thousand 
warriors to the field ; and feeling confident in his strength, he was not properly 
vigilant. His chief fort and village on the ]\Iystic River, eight miles north- 
east of New London, was surprised at dawn the 5th of June, 1G37, and 
before sun-rise, more than six hundred men, women, and children, perished by 
fire and sword. Only seven escaped to spread the dreadful intelligence abroad, 
and arouse the surviving warriors. The Narragansetts turned homeward, and 
the English, aware of great peril, pressed forward to Groton on the Thames, 



' Thi?? island, which lies ncarlv south from the eastern border of Connecticut, was visited hy 
Adrian Block, the Dutch naviafator, and was called by his name. At the time in question, it wa.( 
thicklj- populated with fierce Indians. 

■' .John Oldham, the first overland explorer of the Connecticut Kiver. ' Page 89. 

* Page 91. * Page 85, " Page 21. ' Page '22. 



88 SETTLEMENTS. [1632. 

and there embarked for Saybrook. They had lost only two killed, and less 
than twenty wounded. 

The brave Sassacus had hardly recovered from this shock, when almost a 
hundred armed settlers, from Massachusetts, under Captain Stoughton, arrived 
at Saybrook. The terrified Pequods made no resistance, but fled in dismay 
toward the wilderness Avestward, hotly pursued by the English. Terrible was 
the destruction in the path of the pursuers. Throughout the beautiful country 
on Long Island Sound, from Saybrook to New Haven, wigwams and cornfields 
were destroyed, and helpless women and children were slain. With Sassacus 
at their head, the Indians flew like deer before the hounds, and finally took 
shelter in Sasco SAvamp, near Fairfield, where, after a severe battle, they all 
surrendered, except Sassacus and a fcAV folloAvers. These fled to the Mohawks,' 
where the sachem was treacherously murdered, and his people were sold into 
slavery, or incorporated with other tribes. The blow was one of extermination, 
relentless and cruel. " There did not remain a sannup or squaw, a Avarrior or 
child of the Pequod name. A nation had disappeared in a day." The New 
England tribes- were filled Avith aAve, and for forty years the colonists Avere 
unmolested by them. 

With the return of peace, the spirit of adventure revived. In the summer 
of 1637, John Davenport, an eminent non-conformist* minister of London, with 
Theophilus Eaton and EdAA'ard Hopkins, rich merchants who represented a 
Avealthy company, arrived at Boston. They were cordially received, and 
urgently solicited to settle in that colony. The Hutchinson controversy* was 
then at its height ; and perceiving the religious agitations of the people, they 
resolved to found a settlement in the Avilderness. The sagacious Puritans, 
AA'hile pursuing the Pequods, had discovered the beauty and fertility of the 
country along the Sound from the Connecticut to Fairfield, and Davenport and 
his companions heard their report Avith joy. Eaton and a fsAV others explored 
the coast in autumn, and erecting a hut° near the Quinipiac Creek (the site of 
New Haven), they passed the Avinter there, and selected it for a settlement. 
In the spring [April 13, 1G38] Davenport and others followed, and under a 
Avide-spreading oak," the good minister preached his first sermon. They pur- 
chased the lands at Quinipiac of the Indians, and, taking the Bible for their 
guide, they formed an independent government, or " plantation covenant, " upon 
strictly religious principles. Prosperity blessed them, and they laid the found- 
ations of a city, and called it New Haven. The folloAving year, the settlers 
at Windsor, Hartford, and Wethersfield, met in convention at Hartford [Jan- 
uary 24, 1639], and adopted a Avritten constitution, Avliich contamed A^ery liberal 
provisions. It ordained that the governor and legislature should be elected 
annually, by the people, and they were required to take an oath of allegiance 
to the commonAvealth, and not to the king. The General Assembly, alone, 



^ P.ac:e 23. " Tn^e 22. ^ Note 2, pap:e TG. ■• Page 120. 

^ On the corner of Church and George-streets, New Haven. 

^ At the intersection of George and College-streets, New Haven. 



1G36.] RHODE ISLAND. 39 

could make or repeal laws ; and in every matter the voice of the people was 
heard. This was termed the Connecticut Colony;' and, notwithstandino- it 
and tlie New Haven colony were not united until 1G65, now was laid the found- 
ation of the commonwealth of Connecticut, which was governed by the 
Hartford Constitution for more than a century and a half. 



CHAPTER YII. 

RHODE ISLAND. [1G3 G— I 4 3.] 

The seed of the Rhode Island commonwealth was planted by brave hands, 
made strong by persecution. The first settler in Rhode Island was William 
Blackstone, a non-conformist minister,* who was also the first resident upon the 
peninsula of Shawmut, where Boston now stands.^ Not liking the " lords 
brethren" in Massachusetts any more than the "lords bishops" of England, 
from whose frowns he had fled, he withdrew to the wilderness, and dwelt high 
up on the Seekonk or Pawtucket River, which portion of the stream still bears 
his name. There he planted, and called the place Rehoboth.^ Although he 
was the first settler, Blackstone was not the founder of Rhode Island. He 
always held allegiance to Massachusetts, and did not aspire to a higher dignity 
than that of an exile for conscience' sake. 

Roger Williams, an ardent young minister at Salem, ^ became the instru- 
ment of establishing the foundations of a new commonwealth in the wilderness. 
When he Avas banished from Massachusetts, toward the close of 1635,' he 
crossed the borders of civilization, and found liberty and toleration among the 
heathen. After his sentence,*^ his bigoted persecutors began to dread the influ- 
ence of his enlightened principles, if he should plant a settlement beyond the 
limits of existing colonies, and they resolved to detain him. Informed of 
their scheme, he withdrew from Salem in the dead of winter [Jan., 1636J. and 
through deep snows he traversed the forests alone, for fourteen weeks, sheltered 
only by the rude wigwam of the Indian, until he found the hospitable cabin' of 

' Note 2, page 76. ' Page 118. 

' Room. The name was significant of his aim — he wanted room outside of the narrow confines 
of what he deemed Puritan intolerance. 

* Roger Williams was born in Wales, in 1599, and was educated at Oxford. Persecution drove 
him to America in 1631, when he was chosen assistant minister at Salem. His extreme toleration 
did not find there a genial atmosphere, and he went to Plymouth. There, too, he was regarded 
with suspicion. Tie returned to Salem in 1634, formed a separate congregation, and in 1635, the 
general court of Massachusetts passed sentence of banishment against him. He labored zealously 
iu founding the colony of Rhode Island, and had no difficulty \nih any people who came there, 
except the Quakers. He died at Providence, in April, 1683, at the age of eighty-four years. 

* Pago 119. 

Williams was allowed six weeks after the pronunciation of liis sentence to prepare for lii.s 
departure. 

Massasoit had become acquainted with the manner of building cabins adopted by the settlers 
at fishing-stations on the coast, and had constructed one for himself. They were much more com- 
fortable than wigwams. See page 13. 



00 



SETTLEMENTS. 



[1636. 



Massasoit, the chief sachem of the Wampanoags,' at Mount Hope. There ho 
was entertained until the buds appeared, Avhen, being joined by five friends from 
Boston, he seated himself upon "the Seekonk, some distance below Blackstone's 
plantation. He found himself within the territory of the Plymouth Company." 
Governor Winslow^ advised him to cross into the Narragansett country, where 
he could not be molested. With his companions he embarked in a light canoe, 
paddled around to the head of Narraganset Bay, and upon a green slope, near 
a spring,^ they prayed, and chose the spot for a settlement. Williams obtained 




(^Y^^i Wjl^'c^'^^no 




a grant of land from Canonicus, chief sachem of the Narragansetts, and in com- 
memoration of " God's merciful providence to him in his distress,"' he called the 
place Providence. 

The freedom enjoyed there was soon spoken of at Boston, and persecuted 
men fled thither for refuge. Persons of every creed Averc allowed full liberty 
of conscience, and lived together happily. The same liberty was allowed in 
politics as in religion ; and a pure democracy was established there. Each 
settler was required to subscribe to an agreement, that he Avould submit to such 
rules, "not affecting the conscience," as a majority of tlie inhabitants should 
adopt for the public good. Williams reserved no political power to himself, and 
the leader and follower had equal dignity and privileges. The government was 



' Page 22. " Page 63. ^ P;)ge 85, 

'' This spring is now [1S5G] beueutb some iiue sycamores on tlie west side of Benefit street, in 
Providence. 



1G43.] RHODE ISLAND. ■ QJ 

entirely in the hands of the pco|)lc. Canonicus, the poAvorful Nan-a^i^ansett 
chief, became much attached to \Villiams, and his influence among them, as "we 
have seen,' was very great. He saved his persecutors from destruction, yet 
they had not the Christian manliness to remove the sentence of banishment, and 
receive him to their bosoms as a brother. He could not compress his enlarged 
views into the narrow compass of their creed ; and so, while they rejoiced in 
their deliverance, they anathematized their deliverer as a heretic and an outcast. 
But he enjoyed the favor of God. His settlement was entirely unmolested 
during the Pcqnod Avar," and it prospered wonderfully. 

Roger Williams opened his arms wide to the persecuted. Larly in 1G38, 
Avhile ]\Irs. Hutchinson was yet in prison in Boston,^ her husband, with AYil- 
liam Coddington, Dr. John Clarke, and sixteen others, of concurrent religious 
vicAVS,' accepted the invitation of Williams to settle in his vicinity. Mianto- 
nomoh gave them the beautiful island of Aquiday^ for forty fathoms of Avhitc 
Avampum.'^ They called it Isle of Rhodes, because of its flmcied resemblance to 
the island of that name in the Levant, and upon its northern A^ergo they planted 
a settlement, and named it Portsmouth. A covenant, similar to the one used 
by Williams," Avas signed by the settlers ; and, in imitation of the 'JcAvish form 
of government under the judges, Coddington Avas chosen judge, or chief ruler, 
Avith three assistants. Others soon came from Boston ; and in 1G-j9, Newport, 
tOAvard the lower extremity of the island, was founded. Liberty of conscience 
Avas absolute ; love was the social and political bond, and upon the seal Avhicli 
they adopted was the motto, Amor v'uicit o?nii.ia — "Love is all-poAA'erfuh" 
Although the Rhode Island and the Providence plantations were separate in 
gOA^ernmcnt, they Avere united in interest and aim. Unwilling to acknowledge 
allegiance to either INIassachusetts or Plymouth,* they sought an independent 
charter. For that purpose Roger Williams Avent to England in 1643. The 
Avhole parent country Avas then convulsed with civil Avar.^ After much delay, 
he obtained from Parliament (Avliich Avas then contending fiercely Avitli the 
king) a free charter of incorporation, dated March 24, 1644, and all the settle- 
ments Avere united under the general title of RJtode Island atid Providence 
Plantations. Then Avas founded the commonAvealth of Rhode Island. 



■ Page 87. " Page 8". ^ Pago 120. ■• Note 2, page 120. 

* This was the Indian name of Rliode Island. It is a Xarragansett word, signifying Peaceable 
Isle. It is sometimes spelled Aquitneck, and Aquitnet. 

* Note 2, page 1?>. They also gave the Indians ten coats and twenty hoes, on condition that 
they should leave the island before the next winter. 

' Page 90. The following is a copy of the government compnct: "We, whose names are 
underwritten, do swear solemnly, in the presence of Jehovah, to incorporate ourselves into a body 
politic, and, as He shall help us, will submit our persons, lives, and estates, unto our Lord Jesus 
Christ, the King of kings, and Lord of Hosts, and to all those most perfect and absolute laws of His, 
given us in His holy Word of truth, to be guided and judged thereby." 

* This un-«illingness caused the other New England colonies to refuse the application of Rhode 
Island to become one of the Confcderac\', in 1643. ' See page 121. 

° Note 3, page 108. 



92 SETTLEMENTS. [1631. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

DELAWARE, NEW JERSEY, AND PENNSYLVANIA. [1631— 1G82.] 

It i,5 difficult to draw the line of demarcation between the first permanent 
settlements in the provinces of Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, for 
they bore such intimate relations to each other that they may be appropriately 
considered as parts of one episode in the history of American colonization. We 
shall, therefore, consider these settlements, in close connection, in one chapter, 
commencing with 

DELAWARE. 

It was claimed by the Dutch, that the territory of New Netherland' ex- 
tended southward to Cape Henlopen. In June, 1629, Samuel Godyn and 
others purchased of the natives the territory between the Cape and the mouth 
of the Delaware River. The following year, two ships, fitted out by Captain 
De Viies and others, and placed under the command of Peter Heyes, sailed 
from the Texel [Dec. 12, 1G30] for America. One vessel Avas captured ; the 
other arrived in April, 1631 ; and near the present town of Lewiston, in 
Delaware, thirty immigrants, with implements and cattle, seated themselves. 
Heyes returned to Holland, and reported to Captain Do Yries.' That mariner 
visited America early the following year [1632J, but the little colony left by 
Heyes Avas not to be found. Difficulties with the Indians had provoked savage 
vengeance, and they had exterminated the white people. 

Information respecting the fine country along the Delaware had spread 
northward, and soon a competitor for a place on the South River, as it was 
called, appeai'cd. Usselincx, an original projector of the Dutch West India 
Company," becoming dissatisfied with his associates, visited Sweden, and laid 
before the enlightened monarch, Gustavus Adolphus, Avell-ar ranged plans for a 
Swedish colony in the New World. The king was delighted, for his attention 
had already been turned toward America ; and his benevolent heart was full of 
desires to plant a free colony there, which should become an asylum for all 
persecuted Christians. While his scheme was ripening, the danger which 
menaced Protestantism in Germany, called him to the field, to contend for the 
principles of the Reformation. ■» He marched from his kingdom with a strong 
army to oppose the Imperial hosts marshaled under the banner of the Pope on 
the fields of Germany. Yet the care and tumults of the camp and field did not 
make him forget his benevolent designs ; and only a few days before his death, 



' Page 72. 

^ De Vries was an eminent navigator, and one of Godyn's friends. To secure his valuable 
services, tlie purcliasers made him a partner in their enterprise, with patroon [page 139] privileges, 
and the first expedition was arranged by him. He afterward came to AmLfica, and was one of 
the most active men in the Dutch colonies. On his return to Holland, he published an account of 
his voyages. ' Page 72. * Note 1-4, page G2. 



1(182.] NEW JERSEY. 93 

at the battle of Lutzen [Nov. 6, 1632], Gustavus recommended tlie enterprise 
as "the jewel of his. kingdom." 

The successor of Gustavus was his daughter Christina, then only six years 
of a^-e. The government was administered by a regency,' at the head of which 
was Axel, count of Oxenstierna. He was the earliest and most ardent sup- 
porter of the proposed great enterprise of Gustavus ; and in 1634 he issued a 
charter for the Swedish West India Company. Peter Minuit,^ who had been 
recalled from the governorship of New Netherland, and was also dissatisfied 
with the Dutch West India Company, went to Stockholm, and oflfered his serv- 
ices to the new corporation. They were accepted, and toward the close of 1637 
he sailed from Gottenburg with fifty emigrants, to plant a colony on the west 
side of the Delaware. He landed on the site of New Castle, in April, 1638, 
and purchased from the Indians^ the territory between Cape Henlopen and the 
Falls of the Delaware, at Trenton. They built a church and fort on the site 
of Wilmington, called the place Christina, and gave the name of New Sweden 
to the teri'itory. The jealousy of the Dutch was aroused by this "intrusion," 
and they hurled protests and menaces against the Swedes.* The latter contin- 
ued to increase by immigration ; new settlements were planted ; and upon Tin- 
icum Island, a little below Philadelphia, they laid the foundations of a capital 
for a Swedish province.^ The Dutch West India Company^ finally resolved to 
expel or subdue the Swedes. The latter made hostile demonstrations, and 
defied the power of the Dutch. The challenge was acted upon ; and toward 
the close of the summer of 1655, governor Stuyvesant, with a squadron of seven 
vessels, entered Delaware Bay.^ In September every Swedish fort and settle- 
ment was brought under his rule, and the capital on Tinicum Island was 
destroyed. The Swedes obtained honorable terms of capitulation ; and for 
twenty-five years they prospered under the rule of the Dutch and English pro- 
prietors of New Netherland. 

NEW JERSEY. 

All the territory of Nova C^sarea, as New Jersey was called by the 
English, was included in the New Netherland charter,^ and transient trading 
settlements were made [1622], first at Bergen, by a few Danes, and then on 
the Delaware. Early in 1623, the Dutch built a log fort near the mouth of 
Timber Creek, a few miles below Camden, and called it Nassau.^ In June, 



' A rep:Pnt is one wlio exercises tlie power of king or emperor, during the absence, incapacity, 
or childhood of the latter. For many years, George the Third of England was incapable of ruling 
on account of his insanity, and his son who was to be his successor at his death, was called the 
Prince Regent, because Parliament had given him power to act as king, in the place of his father. 
In the case of Christina, three persons were appointed regents, or rulers. 

^ Page 139. ^ The Delawares. See pase 20. * Page 143. 

' This wa.s done about forty years before William Penn became proprietor of Pennsylvania. 

" Page 72. ^ Page 143. * Page 72. 

° It was built under the direction of Captain Jacobus May, who had observed attempts made 
by a Frencli sea-captain to set up the arms of France there. The fort was built of logs, and was 
little else than a rude block-house, witli jiahssades. [See note 1, page 127.] A little garrison, left to 
protect it, was soon scattered, and the fort was abandoned. 



94 SETTLEMENTS. * [1031. 

1623, four couples, "who had been married on the voyage from Amsterdam, 
were sent to plant a colony on the Delaware. They seated themselves upon 
the site of Gloucester, a little below Fort Nassau, and this was the commence- 
ment of settlements in West Jersey. 

Seven years later [1G30] Michael Pauw bought from the Indians the lands 
extending from Hoboken to the Raritan, and also the whole of Staten Island, 
and named the territory Pavonia.^ In this purchase, Bergen was included. 
Other settlements were attempted, but none were permanent. In 1631, Cap- 
tain Heyes, after establishing the Swedish colony at Lewiston,- crossed the 
Delaware, and purchased Cape IMay' from the Indians ; and from that point to 
Burlington, traders' huts were often seen. The English became possessors of 
New Netherl md in 1664, and the Duke of York, to whom the province had 
been given,' conveyed to Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret [June 24, 
1664], all the territory between the North and South (Hudson and Delaware) 
Rivers^ and northward to the line of forty-one degrees and forty minutes, under 
the title of Nova CcBsarea or New Jersey. Soon afterward several families 
from Long Island settled at Elizabethtown,^ and there planted the first fruitful 
seed of the New Jersey colony, for the one at Gloucester withered and died. 
The following year, Philip Carteret, who had been appointed governor of the 
new province, arrived with a charter, fair and liberal in all its provisions. It 
provided for a government to be composed of a representative assembly-' chosen 
by the people, and a governor and council. The legislative powers resided in 
the assembly; the executive powers were intrusted to the governor and his 
council. Then [1665 J was laid the foundation of the commonwealth of New 
Jersey. 

p e n n s y l v a n i a . 

A new religious sect, called Quakers,' arose in England at about the com- 
mencement of the civil wars [1642 — 1651 j which resulted in the death of 
Charles the First. Their preachers were the boldest, and yet the meekest of 
all non-conformists." Purer than all other sects, they were hated and perse- 
cuted by all. Those who came to America for " conscience' sake" were perse- 
cuted by the Puritans of New England," the Churchmen of Virginia and 
Maryland, and in a degree by the Dutch of New Amsterdam ; and only in 
Rhode Island did they enjoy freedom, and even there they did not always dwell 
in peace. In 1673, George Fox, the founder of the Quaker sect, visited all his 
brethren in America. He found them a despised people everywhere, and his 

' Until the period of our War for Independence, the point of land In Pavonia, on whicli Jersey 
City, opposite New York, now stands, was called Paulus' Hook. Here was the scene of a bold 
exploit by Americans, under Major Henry Le^, in 1779. See page 298. 

- Page 92. ^ Named in honor of Captain Jacobus Mey, or May. * Page 159. 

^ Page 159. ^ Note 3, page 159. 

■' This name was given by Justice Bnmet, of Derby, in 1650, who was admonished by George 
Fox, when he was cited before the magistrate, to tremble and quake at the Word of the Lord, at the 
same time Fox quaked, as if stirred by mighty emotions. See page 90. 

" Note 2, page 76. " Page 75. 



1G82.] 



PENNSYLVANIA. 



95 



heart yearned for an asylum for his brethren. Among tlie most influential of 
liis converts was William Penn,' son of the renowned admiral of that name. 
Through him the sect gained access to the ears of the nobility, and soon the 
Quake'^-s possessed the western half of New Jersey, by purchase from Lord 
Berkeley.' The first company of immigrants landed in the autumn of 1675. 
and named the place of debarkation Salem.^ They established a democratic 
form of government ; and, in November, 1681. the first legislative assembly of 
Quakers ever convened, met at Salem. 




While these events were progressing, Penn, who had been chief peace-maker 
when disputes arose among the proprietors and the people, took measures t.) 
plant a new colony beyond the Delaware. He applied to Charles the Second 
for a charter. The king remembered the services of Admiral Penn,^ and gave 
his son a grant [March 14, 1681] of " three degrees of latitude by five degrees 



' William Peiiu was born in London, in October, 1644, and \va.? educated at Oxford. He was 
remarkable, in his youtli, for brilliant talent.s; and while a student, having lieard tlie preaclung of 
tjuakers, he was drawn to them, and suffered expulsion from his father's roof in consequence. Ho 
went abroad, obtained courtly manners, studied law afler his return, and was again driven froni- 
home ibr associating with Quakers. He then became a preacher among them, and remained in. 
that connection until his death. After a life of great activity and considerablo suflering, he died in, 
England, in 1718, at tiie age of .seventy-four years. Page 119. 

^ Now the capital of Salem county. New Jersey. 

* He was a very efficient naval commander, and by his skill contributed to the defeat of the 
Dutch in 1GG4. The king gave him the title o^ Baron ibr his services. Note 15, page G2. 



96 SETTLEMENTS. [1631. 

of longitude west of the Delaware," and named the province Pennsyhania, in 
lionor of the proprietor. It included the principal settlements of the Swedes. 
To these people, and others within the domain, Penn sent a proclamation, filled 
with the loftiest sentiments of republicanism. William Markham, who bore the 
proclamation, was appointed deputy-governor of the province, and with him 
sailed [May, 1681] quite a large company of immigrants, who were members 
or employees of the Company of Free Traders,^ who had purchased lands of 
the proprietor. In May, the following year, Penn published a frame of gov- 
ernment, and sent it to the settlers for their approval. It was not a constitu- 
tion, but a code of wholesome regulations for the people of the colony.'' He 
soon afterward obtained by grant and purchase [Aug. 1682] the domain of the 
present State of Delaware, which the Duke of York claimed, notwithstanding it 
was clearly not his own. It comprised three counties, Newcastle, Kent, and 
Sussex, called The Territories. 

Penn had been anxious, for some time, to visit his colony, and toward the 
close of August, 1682, he sailed in the Welcome for America, with about one 
hundred emigrants. The voyage was long and tedious ; and when he arrived 
at Newcastle, in Delaware [Nov. 6], he found almost a thousand ncAV comers 
there, some of whom had sailed before, and some after his departure from En- 
gland. He was joyfully received by the old settlers, who then numbered almost 
three thousand. The Swedes said, "It is the best day we have ever seen:"' 
and they all gathered like children around a fiither. A few days afterward, he 
proceeded to Shackamaxon (now Kensington suburbs of Philadelphia), where, 
under a wide-spreading elm, he entered into an honorable treaty with the In- 
dians, for their lands, and established'with them an everlasting covenant of peace 
and friendship. " We meet," said Penn, "on the broad pathway of good faith 
and good will ; no advantage shall be taken on either side ; but all shall be 
openness and love." And so it was. 

"Thou'lt find," said the Quaker, '■ in me and in mine, 
But friends and brothers to tliee and thine, 
Who abuse no power and admit no line 

'Twixt the red man and the white. 

And bright was the spot where tlie Quaker came, 
To leave his hat, his drab, and his name, 
That will sweetly sound from the trump of Fame, 
Till its final blast shall die." 

On the day after his arrival, Penn received from the agents of the Duke of 
York,' in the presence of the people, a formal surrender of The Territories ; 



' Lands in the new province were offered for about ten cents an acre. Quite a number of pur- 
fhasers united, and called themselves The Company of Free Traders^ with whom Penn entered into 
.in agreement concerning the occupation of the soil, la.ying out of a city, &c. 

' It ordained a General Assembly or court, to consist of a governor, a council of seventy, chosen 
by the freemen of the colony, and a house of delegates, to consist of not less than two luindred 
members, nor more than five jiundred. These were also to be chosen by the people. The proprietor, 
or his deputy (the governor), was to preside, and to have a three-fold voice in the council ; that is, on 
i\\\ questions, lie was to have tliree votes for every one of the councillors. ' Page 14-4 



1682.] 



THE CAROLINAS. 



and after resting a few <l;iys, lie proceeded to visit 
his lirethren in New Jersey, and the authorities 
at New York. On his return, he met the General 
Assembly of tiie province at Chester,' when he 
declared the union of The Territories with Pennsyl- 
vaniai. lie made a more judicious organization of the 
local goverimient, aiid then were permanently laid the 
foundations of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. 



97 




THE ASSEMBLY HOUSE. 



C HAP TER IX. 



THE CAROLINAS. [1622 — 1680.] 

Unsuccessful eiforts at settlement on the coast of Carolina, were made 
during a portion of the sixteenth century. These Ave have already considei-ed.'^ 
As early as 1609, some dissatisfied people from Jamestown settled on the 
Nansemond ; and in 1622, Porey, then Secretary of Virginia, with a few 
friends, penetrated the country beyond the Roanoke. In 1630, Charles the 
First granted to Sir Robert Heath, his attorney-general, a domain south of 
Virginia, six degrees of latitude in width, extending from Albemarle Sound to 
the St. John's River, in Florida, and, as usual, westward to the Pacific Ocean. 
No settlements were made, and the charter was forfeited. At that time. Dis- 
senters or Nonconformists' suffered many disabilities in Virginia, and looked to 
the wilderness for freedom. In 16f53, Roger Green and a few Presbyterians 
left that colony and settled upon the Chowan River, near the present village of 
Edenton. Other dissenters followed, and the colony flourished. Governor 
Berkeley, of Virginia,' wisely organized them into a separate political connnu- 
nity [1663], and William Drummond,^ a Scotch Presbyterian minister, was 
appointed their governor. They received the name of AJhemarle County 
Colony, in honor of the Duke of Albemarle, who, that year, became a proprietor 
of tiie territory. Two years previously [1661], some New England" adventur- 
ers settled in the vicinity of Wilmington, on the Cape Fear River, but many 
of them soon abandoned the countrj^ because of its poverty. 

Charles the Second was femous for his distribution of the lands in the New 
World, among his friends and favorites, regardless of any other claims, Abo- 



' The picture is a correct roprosentation of tlio Vinildin<r fit Clioptcr, in Pennsvlvania, wherein 
the Assembly met. It was yet standing- in 1850. Not far from tlie spot, on the siiore of the Dela- 
ware, at the mouth of Chester Creek, was also a solitary pine-tree, which marked tlic place where 
Penn landed. 

* Pages 55 to 57 inclusive. ' Note 2, page 76. * Pacre 78. 

Drumraond was afterward executed on account of liis participation in Bacon's revolutionary 
acts. See note 5, page 112. " Page 108. 

1 



98 SETTLEMENTS. [1622. 

riginal or European. In 1G6?), he granted the whole territory named in Sir 
Robert Heath's charter, to eight of his principal friends,' and called it Caro- 
lina.^ As the Chowan settlement was not within the limits of the charter, the 
boundarj/ Avas extended northward to the present line between Virginia and 
North Carolina, and also southward, so as to include the Avhole of Florida, 
except its peninsula. The Bahama Islands were granted to the same proprie- 
tors in 1G67.^ Two years earlier [1665], a company of Barbadoes planters 
settled upon the lands first occupied by the New England people, near the 
present Wilmington, and founded a permanent settlement there. The few 
settlers yet remaining w ere treated kindly, and soon an independent colony, with 
Sir John Yeamans* as governor, was established. It was called the Clarendon 
County Colony^ in honor of one of the proprietors. Yeamans managed 
prudently, but the poverty of the soil prevented a rapid increase in the popula- 
tion. The settlers applied themselves to the manufacture of boards, shingles, 
and staves, Avhich they shipped to the West Indies ; and that business is yet the 
staple trade of that region of pine forests and sandy levels. Although the 
settlement did not flourish, it continued to 'exist ; and then was founded the 
commonwealth of North Carolina. 

The special attention of the proprietors was soon turned toward the more 
southerly and fertile portion of their domain, and in January. 1670, they sent 
three ships with emigrants, under the direction of William Sayle^ and Joseph 
West, to plant a colony below Cape Fear. They entered Port Royal, landed 
on Beaufort Island at the spot Avhere the Huguenots built Fort Carolina in 
1564," and there Sayle died early in 1671. The immigrants soon afterward 
abandoned Beaufort, and sailing into the Ashley River,'' seated themselves on 
its Avestern bank, at a place a few miles above Charleston, now knoAvn as Old 
ToAvn. There they planted the first seeds of a South Carolina colony. West 
exercised authority as chief magistrate, until the arrival of Sir John Yeamans, 
in December, 1671, Avho was appointed governor. He came Avith fifty families, 
and a large number of slaA'es.^ Representative government A\'as instituted in 
1672' under the title of the Carteret County Colony. It Avas so called in 
honor of one of the proprietors."* Ten years after Avard they abandoned the spot ; 



' Lord Clarendon, liis prime minister; General Monk, jiiPt created Duke of Albemarle; Lord 
Ashley Cooper, afterward Earl of Shaftesbury; Sir George Carteret, a proprietor of New Jersey; 
Sir "William Berkeley, Governor of Virginia; Lord Berkeley, Lord Craven, and Sir John Colleton. 

"^ It will be perceived [note 1, page 55] that tlie name of Carolina, given to territory south of 
Virginia, was bestowed in honor of two kings named Charles, one of France, the other of England. 

^ Samuel Stephens succeeded Drummond as governor, in 1667 ; and in 1668, the first popular 
Assembly in North Carolina convened at Edenton. 

" Yeamans was an impoverished English baronet, who had become a planter in Barbadoes, to 
mend his fortune. He was .successful, and became wealthy. 

* Sayle had previously explored the Carolina coast. Twenty years before, he had attempted to 
plant an "Elcutharia,'' or place dedicated to the genius of Liberty [see Eleutheria, Anthon's Cla.ss- 
ical Dictionary], in the isles near the coast of Florida. 

* Page 50. '' Page 166. 

* This was the commencement of negro slavery in South Carolina. Yeamans brought almost 
two hundred of them from Barbadoes. From the commencement, South Carolina has been a 
planting State. " Note 5, page 165. 

" He was also one of the proprietors of New Jersey. See page 119. 



1680.] GEORGIA. 99 

and upon Oyster Point, at the junction of Ashley and Cooper Rivers,' nearer 
the sea, they founded the present city of Charleston." Immigrants came from 
various parts of Europe ; and many Dutch families, dissatisfied with the English 
rule at New York,^ went to South Carolina, Avhere lands were freely given 
them ; and soon, along the Santee and the Edisto, the Avilderness began to 
blossom under the hand of culture. The people Avould have nothing to do with 
a government scheme prepared by Shaftesbury and Locke," ])ut preferred simple 
oro;«nic laws of their own making. Then were laid the foundations of the com- 
monwealth of South Carolina, although the history of the two States, under 
the same proprietors, is inseparable, until the period of their dismemberment, 
in 1729.5 



CHAPTER X . 

GEORGIA. [IT 3 3.] 

Georgia was the latest settled of the thirteen original English colonies in 
America. When the proprietors of the Carolinas surrendered their charter^ to 
the crown in 1729, the whole country southward of the Savannah River, to 
the vicinity of St. Augustine, Avas a Avilderness peopled by native tribes,' and 
claimed by the Spaniards as part of their territory of Florida.* The English 
disputed this claim, and South Carolina toAvnships Avere ordered to be marked 
out as far south as the Alatamaha. The dispute grcAv warm and Avarlike, and 
the Indians, instigated by the Spaniards, depredated upon the frontier English 
settlements." But, Avhile the clouds of hostility Avere gathering in the firma- 
ment, and grew darker CA'ery hour, it was lighted vip by a bright beam of be- 
nevolence, Avliich proved the harbinger of a glorious day. It came from England, 
where, at that time, poverty Avas often considered a crime, and at least four 
thousand unfortunate debtors Avere yearly consigned to loathsome prisons. The 
honest and true, the noble and the educated, as Avell as the ignorant and the 
vile, groaned Avithin prison Avails. Their Availings at length reached the ears 
of beneA'olent men. Foremost among these was James EdAvard Oglethorpe, '" a 
brave soldier and stanch loyalist, Avhose voice had been heard often in Pculia- 
ment against imprisonment for debt. 

A' committee of inquiry into the subject of such imprisonments, Avas ap- 



' These were so called in honor of Ashley Cooper, Earl of Shaftcsburj'. Tlie Indian name of 
the former was Ke-a-ivali, and of the latter E-ti-wan. 

^ Charleston was laid out in 1680 by John Culpepper, who had been surve5-or-general for 
North Carolina. See page 166. ^ Page 164. '' Page 144. ^ Palre 171. 

" Page 171. ■' Page 29. * Page 42. " Page 170. 

"* See portrait, page 104. General Oglethorpe was born in Surrey, England, on the 21st of De- 
cember, 1698. Ho was a soldier by profession. In 1745, he was made a brigadier-general, and 
fought against Charles Edward, the Pretender, who was a grandson of James the Second, and 
claimed rightful heirship to the tlirone of England. Oglethorpe refused the supreme command of 
the British army destined for America in 1775. He died, June 30, 1785, aged eighty-seven years. 



100 SETTLEMENTS. [1733. 

pointed ))y rarliament, and General Oglethorpe was made chairman of it. His 
report, embodying a no')le sclieme of benevolence, attracted attention and 
;v(huiration. Ho proj)osed to open the prison doors to all virtuous men Avitliin, 
>vho would accept the conditions, and with these and other sufferers from pov- 
•crty and oppression, to go to the Avilderness of America, and there establish a 
colony of freemen, and open an asylum for persecuted Protestants' of all lands. 
The plan met warm I'esponses in Parliament, and received the hearty approval 
of George the Second, then [1730] on the English throne. A royal charter for 
twenty-one years Avas granted [Tune 9, 1732 j to a corporation " in trust for 
the poor,"' to establish a colony v/ithin the disputed territory south of the Sa- 
vannah, to be called Georgia, iu honor of the king." Individuals subscribed 
large sums to defray the expen-c.-i of emigrants hither ; and within two years 
after the issuing of the patent. Parliament had appropriated one hundred and 
eighty thousand dollars for the same purpose.^ 

The sagacious and brave Oglethorpe was a practical philanthropist. He 
offered to accompany the first settlers to the wilderness, and to act as governor 
of the new province. With one hundred and twenty emigrants he left England 
[Nov., 1732], and after a passage of fifty-seven days, touched at Charleston 
[Jan., 1733], where he was received with great joy by the inhabitants, as one 
who Avas about to plant a barrier between them and the hostile Indians and 
Spaniards.'' Proceeding to Port Royal, Oglethorpe landed a large portion of 
his followers there, and with a few others, he coasted to the Savannah River. 
Sailing up that stream as far as YamacraAV Bluff, he landed, and chose the spot 
whereon to lay the foundation of the capital of a future State.* 

On the 12th of February, 1733, the remainder of the immigrants arrived 
from Port Royal. The winter air Avas genial, and with cheerful hearts and 
willing hands they constructed a rude fortification, and commenced the erection 
of a toAvn, Avhich they called Savannah, the Indian name of the river.'' For 
almost a year the governor dAvelt under a tent, and there he often held friendly 
intercourse Avith the chiefs of neighboring tribes. At length, when he had 
mounted cannons upon the fort, and safety Avas thus secured, Oglethorpe met 



• Note 14, page 62. 

^ The domain granted by the charter extended along the coast from tlie Savannah to the Ala- 
tamaha, and westward to the Pacific Ocean. The trustees appointed by the crown, possessed all 
legislative and executive power ; and, therefore, while one side of the seal of the new province 
expressed the benevolent character of the scheme, by the device of a group of toiling silkworms, 
and the motto, Non sibi, sed aliis ; the other side, bearing, between two urns the genius of 
" Georgia Augusta," with a cap of liberty on her head, a spear, and a horn of plenty, was a folse 
emblem. There was no political liberty lor the people. 

^ Brilliant visions of vast vintages, immense productions of silk for British looms, and all the 
wealth of a fertile tropical region, were presented for the contemplation of the commercial acumen 
of the business men of England. These considerations, as well as the promptings of pure benev- 
olence, made donations liberal and numerous. ^ Page 99. 

^ Some historians believe that Sir AiValter Raleigh, while on his way to South America, in 1595, 
went up the Savannah River, and held a conference with the Indians on this very spot. This, 
probably, is an error, for nothing appears in the writings of Raleigh or his cotemporaries to warrant 
the inference that he ever saw the North American continent. 

^ The streets were laid out with great regularity; putjlic squares were reserved; and the houses 
were all built on one model — twenty-four by sixteen feet, on the ground. 




OOLLTUOUl'l-. b Hhbi l.MLKMLW WllU lUL JNWVNS 



1733.] GEORGIA. 103 

fifty chiefs in council [May, 1733], with To-mo-chi-chl,^ the principal sachem 
of the lower Cree'c confederacy." at their head, to treat for the purchase of 
lands. Satisfactory arrangements were made, and the English obtained sover- 
eignty over the whole domain [June 1, 1733J along the ^Vtlantic from the Sa- 
vamiah to the St. John's, and westward to the Flint and the head waters of the 
Chattahoochee. The provisions of the charter formed the constitution of gov- 
ernment for the people ; and there, upon Yamacraw Bluff, where the flourishing 
city of Savannah now stands, was laid the foundation of the commonwealth of 
Georgia, in the summer of 1733. Immigration flowed thither in a strong and 
continuous stream, for all Avere free in religious matters ; yet for many years 
the colony did not flourish.* 

Wonderful, indeed, were the events connected with the permanent settle- 
ments in the New World. Never in the history of the race was greater hero- 
ism displayed than the seaboard of the domain of the United States exhibited 
during the period of settlements, and the development of colonies. Hardihood, 
faith, courage, indomitable perseverance, and untiring energy, were requisite 
to accomplish all that was done in so short a time, and under such unfavorable 
circumstances. While many of the early immigrants were mere adventurers, 
and sleep in deserved oblivion, because they were recreant to the great duty 
which they had self-imposed, there are thousands whose names ought to be per- 
petuated in brass and marble, because of their faithful performance of the 
mighty task assigned them. They came hero as sowers of the prolific seed of 
human liberty ; and during the colonizing period, many of them carefully nur- 
tured the tender plant, while it was bursting into vigorous life. We, who are 
the reapers, ought to reverence the sowers and the cultivators with grateful 
hearts. 

* To-rao-ohi-chi was then an aged man, and at his first interview with Oglethorpe, he presented 
him with a bufialo skin, ornamented with the pieture of an eagle. " Here," said tlie chief, ''is a littlo 
present: I give you a Ijuffalo's skin, adorned on the inside with the liead and feathers of an eagle, 
which I desire you to accept, because the eagle is an emblem of speed, and t!ie bulTalo of strength. 
The English are swift as the bird, and strong as the beast, since, like the former, they flew over 
vast seas to the uttermost parts of the earth ; and like the latter, they are so strong that nothing 
can withstand them. The feathers of an eagle are soft, and signily love ; tlie buffalo's skin is 
warm, and signifies protection ; — therefore I hope the Enghsh wili protect and love our little fimi- 
ilies." Alas 1 the wishes of the venerable To-mo-chi-ehi were never realized, tor the white people 
more often plundered and destroyed, than loved and protected the Indians. 

' Page 30. ' Pages lU and 173. 




FOURTH PERIOD. 
THE COLONIES, 



CHAPTER I. 



JAMES EDWARD OGLETHORPE. 



Having briefly traced the interesting 
events which resulted in the founding of sev- 
eral colonies bj settlements we will now con- 
sider the more important acts of establishing permanent commonwealths, all of 
which still exist and flourish. The colonial history of the United States is 
comprised within the period commencing when the several settlements along the 
Atlantic coasts became organized into political communities, and ending when 
representatives of these colonies met in general congress in 1774,' and confeder- 
ated for mutual welfere. There was an earlier union of interests and efforts. 
It was when the several English colonies aided the mother country in a long 
Avar against the combined hostilities of the French and Indians. As the local 
histories of tlie several colonies after the commencement of that war have but 
little interest for the general reader, we shall trace the progress- of each colony 
only to that period, and devote a chapter to the narrative of the French and 
Indian war.* 



' Page 228. 



' Page 179. 



1619] VIRGINIA. 105 

As Ave luivo already observed, a settlement acquires the character of a 
coJonij only when it lias become permanent, and the people, acknowledging 
allegiance to a parent State, are governed by organic laws.' According to 
these conditions, the earliest of the thirteen colonies represented in the Con- 
gress of 1774, was 

Y I R G I X I A, [1 G 1 9.] 

That was an auspicious day for the six hundred settlers in Virginia when 
the gold-seekers disappeared,^ and the enlightened George Yeardley became 
governor, and established a representative assembly [June 28, 1619 j — the first 
in all America.^ And yet a prime element of happiness and prosperity was 
■wanting. There trere no irhite wo)ne)t in the colony. The Aviso Sandys, the 
friend of the P\hjnni Fatheis^^ Avas then treasurer of the London Company.* 
and one of tlie most influential and zealous promoters of emigration. During 
the same year Avhen the Puritans sailed for America [1620], he sent more than 
tAvelve hundred emigrants to Virginia, among Avhom Avere ninety young Avomen, 
"pure and uncorrupt," Avho were disposed of for the cost of their passage, as 
Avives for the planters.*^ The folloAving year sixty more Avere sent. The fam- 
ily relation was soon established ; the gentle influence of Avoman gave refine- 
ment to social life on tlio 1)anks of the PoAvhatan;^ ncAV and poAverful incentives 
to industry and thrift Avere created ; and tlie mated planters no longer cherisliod 
the prevailing idea of returning to England. • Vessel after vessel, laden with 
immigrants, continued to arrive in the James River, and new settlements Avere 
planted, even so remote as at the Falls,'-' and on the distant banks of the Poto- 
mac. The germ of an empire Avas rapidly expanding Avith the active elements 
of national organization. Verbal instructions Avould no longer serve the pur- 
poses of government, and in August, 1621, the Company granted the colonists 
a written. Co)istitntion^'° Avhich ratified most of the acts of Yeardley." Pro- 
vision Avas made for the appointment of a governor and council by the Company, 
and a popular Assembly, to consist of tA\'0 burgesses or representatiA^es from 
each borough, chosen by the people. This body, and the council, composed 
the General Assembly, Avhich Avas to meet once a year, and pass laws for the 



' Page 61. ' Page 71. ^ Page 71. * Page 77. * Pago 64. 

" Tobacco had already become a circulating medium, or ourreucy, in Virginia. The price of a 
wife varied from 120 to 150 pounds of this product, equivalent, in money value, lo about $90 and 
$112 each. Tlie second " cargo" were sold at a still higher price. By the king's special order, one 
hundred dissolute vagabonds, called "jail-birds" by the colonists, were sent over the same year, and 
sold as bond-servants for a specified time. In August, tlie same year, a Dutch trading vessel en- 
tered the .James River with negro slaves. Twenty of them were sold into perpetual slavery to tho 
planters. This was the commencement of negro slavery in the English colonies [note 4, page 177]. 
The slave population of the United States in 1850, according to the census, was 3,204,313. 

' Page 64. 

*■ Most of the immigrants hitherto were possessed of the spirit of more adventurers. Tiiey camo 
to America to repair shattered fortunes, or to gain wealth, with tiie ultimate object of returning to 
I'higland to enjoy it. The creation of families made the planters more attached to the soil of Vir- 
ginia. 

" Near the site of the city of Riclimond. The falls, or rapids, extend about six: miles. 

"^ Tlie people of the Mny-flowir formed a ivriittn Consiituiion for themselves [page 78]. That 
of Vh-ginia was modeled after the Constitution of England. " Page 70. 



]0G THE COLONIES. [1610. 

cjencral good.' Such laws Avore not valid until approved by the Company, 
neither were any orders of the Company binding upon the colonists until 
ratified by the General Assembly. Trial by jury was established, and courts 
of laAv conformable to those of England were organized. Ever afterward claim- 
ing these privikyes as rights, the Virginians look back to the summer of 1621 
as the era of their civil freedom. 

The excellent Sir Francis Wyatt, who had been appointed governor under 
the Constitution, and brought the instrument with him, was delighted with the 
aspect of affairs in Virginia. But a dark cloud soon arose in the summer sky. 
The neighboring Indian tribes" gathered in solemn council. Powhatan, the 
friend of the English after the marriage of his daughter.' was dead, and an 
enemy of the Avhite people ruled the dusky nation. "• They had watched the 
increasing strength of the English, Avith alarm. The Avhite people were now 
four thousand in number, and rapidly increasing. The Indians read their des- 
tiny — annihilation — upon the fiice of every new comer ; and, prompted by the 
fh'st great law of his nature, self-preservation, the red man resolved to strike a 
blow for life. A conspiracy was accordingly formed, in the spring of 1622, to 
exterminate the white people. At mid-day, on the 1st of April, the hatchet 
fell upon all of the more remote settlements ; and within an hour, three hun- 
dred and fifty men, women, and children, Avere slain.^' JamestoAvn'"' and neigh- 
boring plantations Avere saved by the timely Avarning of a con Averted Indian.' 
The people were on their guard and escaped. Those far aAvay in the forests 
defended themseh^es bravely, and Avhen they had beaten back the foe. they fled 
to JamestOAvn. Within a fcAV days, eighty plantations were reduced to eight. 

The pboplc, thus concentrated at Jamestown by a terrible necessity, pre- 
pared for vengeance. A vindictiA^e Avar ensued, and a terrible bloAv of retalia- 
tion Avas given. The Indians upon the James and York Rivers Avere slaughtered 
by scores, or Avere driven far back into the Avilderness. Yet a blight Avas upon 
the colony. Sickness and famine followed close upon the massacre. Within 
three months, the colony of four thousand souls Avas reduced to twenty-five 
hundred ; and at the beginning of 1624, of the nine thousand persons Avho had 
been sent to Virginia from England, only eighteen hundred remained. 

These disheartening events, and the selfish action of the king, discouraged 
the London Company.* The holders of the stock had now become very numer- 
ous, and their meetings, composed of men of all respectable classes, assumed a 



' Tliis was tlie beginning of the Yirsrinia House of Burgesses, of Avhich we shall often speak in 
future chapters "^ The Powhatans. See page 20. ^ Page 70. 

* Powhatan died in 1618, and was succeeded in office bj^ his younger brother, Opechancan- 
ough [see page 66]. This chief hated the English. He was the one who made Captain Smith a 
prisoner. 

° Opechancanough was wily and exceedingly treacherous. Only a few days before the mas- 
nacre. iie declared that "sooner the skies would fall than his friendship with the English would be 
liissolved." Even on the day of the massacre, the Indians entered the houses of the planters with 
u.sual tokens of friendship. "^ Page 64. 

' This was Chanco, who was informed of the bloody design the evening previous. He desired 
to save a white friend in Jamestown, and gave him the information. It was too late to send word 
to the more remote settlements. Among those who fell on this occasion, were six members of the 
^•ouncil, and several of the wealthiest inhabitants, " Page 64. 



lo88.] VIRGINIA. 107 

political character, in -which two distinct parties -were represented, namely, the 
advocates of liberty, and the supporters of the royal prerogatives. The king 
was offended by the freedom of debates at these meetings, and regarded them 
as inimical to royalty, and dangerous to the stability of his throne.' He deter- 
mined to regain Avhat he had lost by granting the li])eral third charter" to the 
company. He endeavored first to control the elections. Failing in this, he 
sought a pretense for dissolving the Company. A commission was appointed 
in May, 1623, to inquire into their affairs. It was composed of the king's 
pliant instruments, who, having reported in favor of a dissolution of the Com- 
pany, an equally pliant judiciary accomplished his designs in October following, 
and a cjito warranfo^ was issued. The Company made but little opposition, for 
the settlement of Virginia had been an unprofitable speculation from the be- 
ginning ; and in July, 1624, the patents were cancelled.^ Virginia became a 
royal province again, '^ but no material change was made in the domestic affairs 
of the colonists. 

King James, with his usual egotism, boasted of the beneficent results to the 
colonists which would flow from this usurpation, by which they were placed 
under his special care. He appointed Yeardley," witli twelve councillors, to 
administer the government, but wisely refrained from interfering wnth the 
House of Burgesses.^ The king lived but a few months longer, and at his 
death, which occurred on the 6th of April, 1625, he was succeeded by his son, 
Charles the First. That monarch was as selfish as he Avas weak. He sough' 
to promote the welfare of the Virginia planters, because he also sought to reap 
the profits of a monopoly, by becoming himself their sole fiictor in the manage- 
ment of their exports. He also allowed them political privileges, not because he 
wished to benefit his subjects, but because he had learned to respect the power 
of those far-off colonists ; and he sought their sanction for his commercial 
agency.** 

Governor Yeardley died in November, 1627, and was succeeded, two years 
later [1629], by Sir John Harvey, a haughty and unpopular royalist. He was 
a member of the commission appointed by James ; and the colonists so despised 
him, that they refused the coveted monopoly to the king. After many and 
violent disputes about land titles, the Virginians deposed him [1635 J and 
appointed commissioners to proceed to England, with an impeachment. Harvey 
accompanied the commission. The king refused to hear complaints against the 



' These meeting's were quite frequent ; and so important were tlie members, in political aflliirs, 
that tlicy could influence the elections of members of Parliament. In 1G23, the accopiplishod 
Nicholas" Ferrar, an active opponent of the court party, was elected to Parliament, by the induenco 
of the London Company. This fact, doubtless, caused the king to dissolve the Company that year. 

- Page 70. 

' A writ of quo imrranto is issued to compel a person or corporation to appear before the king, 
and show b}- what authority certain privilejjes are held. 

* The Company had expended almost $700,000 in establishing the colony, and this prcat sum 
was almost a dead loss to the .stockholders. Paire G3. 

e Page 70. ' Note 1, page 106. 

" In June, 1628. the king, in a letter to the governor and council, asked them to convene an 
assembly to consider his proposal to contract for the whole crop of tobacco. lie thus tacitly 
acknowledged the legality of the republican assembly of Virginia, hitherto not sandiontd, but ouly 
permitted. 



108 THE COLONIES. [1619. 

accused, and he was sent l)ack clothed -with full powers to administer the gov- 
ernment, independent of the people. He ruled almost four years longer, and was 
succeeded, in November, 1639, bj Sir Francis Wjatt, who administered gov- 
ernment well for about two years, when he was succeeded [1641] by Sir William 
Berkeley,' an able and elegant courtier. For ten years Berkeley ruled with 
vigor, and the colony prospered wonderfully.^ But, as in later years, commo- 
tions in Europe now disturbed the American settlements. The democratic 
revolution in England,^ which brought Charles the First to the block, and 
placed Oliver Cromwell in power, now [1042 J began, and religious sects in 
England and America assumed political importance. Puritans* had hitherto 
been tolerated in Virginia, but now the Throne and the Church were united in 
interest, and the Virginians being loyal to both, it was decreed tiiat no minister 
should preach except in conformity to the constitution of the Church of En- 
gland.'^ ]\Iany non-conformists" were banished from the colony. This was a 
dark cloud upon the otherwise clear skies of Virginia, but a darker cloud was 
gathering. The Indians were again incited to hostilities by the restless and 
vengeful Opechancanough,'' and a terrible storm burst ixpon the English, in 
April, 1644. For tAvo years a bloody border warfare was carried on. The 
king of the Powhatans* was finally made captive, and died while in prison at 
Jamestown, and his people were thoroughly subdued. The power of the con- 
federation was completely broken, and after ceding large tracts of land to the 
English, the chiefs acknowledged allegiance to the authorities of Virginia, and 
r.o the political lif^ of the Powhatans passed away forever.^ 

During the civil war in England [1641 — 1649 J, the Virginians remained 
loyal ; and Avhen republican government was proclaimed, they boldly recognized 
the son of the late king, although in exile, as their sovereign.'" The republican 
parliament was highly incensed, and took immediate measures to coerce Vir- 
ginia into submission to its authority. For that purpose Sir George Ayscue 
was sent with a powerful fleet, bearing commissioners of parliament, as repre- 
sentatives of the sovereignty of the commonwealth, and anchored in Hampton 
Roads in March, 1652. 



' William Berkeley was born near London ; was educated at Oxford ; became, by travel and 
education, a polished gentleman; was governor of Virginia almost 40 year.*, and died in July, 1677. 

" In 1648, the number of colonists was 20,000. "The cottages were filled -with children, as the 
ports were with ships and immigrants." 

^ For a long time the exactions of the king fostered a bitter feeling toward him, in tlie hearts 
of the people. In 1641 they took up arms against their sovereign. One of the chief leaders of the 
popular party was Oliver Cromwell. Tlie war continued until 1649, when the royalists were sub- 
dued, and the king was beheaded. Parliament assumed all the functions of government, aud ruled 
until 1653, when Cromwell, the insurgent leader, dissolved that bod,y, and was proclaimed supreme 
I'uler, with the title of Prokdor of tlie Commonwealth of England. Cromwell was a son of a 
wealthy brewer of Huntiugdon, England, where he was born in 1599. He died in September, 
1058, * Page 75. ^ Page 75. 

* Note 2, page 76. ' Note 5, page 106. * Page 20. 

^ They relinquished all claim to the beautiful country between the York and James Rivers, 
from the Falls of the latter, at Richmond, to the sea, forever. It was a legacy of a dying nation 
to their conqueror.*. After tliat, their utter destruction was swift aud thorough. 

'" Afterward the profligate Charles the Second. His mother was sister to the French king, and 
to that court she fled, with her children. It was a sad day for the moral character of England 
when Charles was enthroned. He was less bigoted, but more licentious than any of the Stuarts 
who governed Great Britain for more than eighty years. 



163S.] VIRGINIA. JQ9 

The Virginians had resolved to submit rather than figlit, yet they made a 
show of resistance. They declared their willingness to compromise with the 
invaders, to which the commissioners, surprised and intimidated by the bold 
attitude of the colonists, readily consented. Instead of opening their caimons 
upon the Mrginians, they courteously proposed to them submission to the 
authority of parliament upon terms quite satisfactory to the colonists. Liberal 
political concessions to the people were secured, and they were allowed nearly 
all those civil rights which the Declaration of Independence,' a century and a 
quarter later, charged George the Third with violating. 

Virginia was, virtually, an independent State, until Charles the Second 
was restored to the throne of his father [May 29, 1660J, for Cromwell made no 
appointments except that of governor. In the same year [1652] when the par- 
liamentary commissioners came, the people had elected Richard Bennet to fill 
Berkeley's place. He was succeeded by Edward Digges, and in 1656, Crom- 
well appointed Samuel Mathews governor. On the death of the Protector 
[1658], the Virginians were not disposed to acknowledge the authority of his 
son Richard," and they elected jMathews their chief magistrate, as a token of 
their independence. Universal suffrage prevailed ; all freemen, without excep- 
tion, were allowed to vote ; and white servants, when their terms of bondage 
ended, had the same privilege, and might become burgesses. 

But a serious change came to the Virginians, after the restoration of Charles 
the Second. When intelligence of that event reached Virginia, Berkeley, 
Avhom the people had elected governor in 1660, repudiated the popular sover- 
eignty, and proclaimed the exiled monarch "King of England, Scotland, Ire- 
land, and Yinjhda.''' This happened before he was proclaimed in England.' 
The Virginia republicans were offended, but being in the minority, could do 
nothing. A new Assembly was elected and convened, and high hopes of favor 
from the monarch were entertained by the court party. But these Avere speed- 
ily blasted, and in place of great privileges, came commercial restrictions to 
cripple the industry of the colony. The navigation act of 1651 was re-enacted 
in 1660, and its provisions were rigorously enforced. •> The people murmured, 



* See Supplement. 

' Cromwell appointed his son Richard to sncced liim in office. Lacking the vigor and ambition 
of his fether, lie gladly resigned the troublesome legacy into the hands of the people, and, a littlo 
more than a }■ ear afterward, Charles the Second was enthroned. 

^ When informed that Parliament was about to send a fleet to bring them to submission, tho 
Tirginiaiis sent a message to Charles, then in Flanders, inviting him to come over and be king of 
Virginia. He had resolved to come, when matters took a turn in England favorable to his restora- 
tion. In gratitude to the colonists, lie caused the arms of Virginia to be quartered witli those of 
England, Scotland, and Ireland, as an independent member of the empire. From this circumstance 
Virginia received the name of The Old Dominion. Coins, with these quarteriugs, were made as 
late as 177."?. 

* The first Navigation Act, by the Republican Parliament, prohibited foreign vessels trading to 
the English colonies. This was partly to punish the sugar-producing islands of the West Indies, 
because tiie people were chiefly loyaUsts. The act of IGGO provided that no goods should bo 
carried to or from any English colonies, but in vessels built within the English dominions, whoso 
masters and at least three fourths of the crews were Englishmen; and that sugar, tobacco, and 
other colonial commodities should be imported into no part of Europe, except England .ind her 
dominions. The trade between the colonies, now stmggliug for prosperous life, was also ta.xed for 
the benefit of England. 



110 THE COLONIES. [1619. 

but in vain. The profligate monarch, -who seems never to have had a clear 
perception of right and wrong, but was governed bj caprice and passion, gave 
away, to his special favorites, large tracts of the finest portions of the Virginia 
soil, some of it already well cultivated.' 

Week after week, and month after month, the Royalist party continued to show 
more and more of the foul hand of despotism. The pliant Assembly abridged 
the liberties of the people. Although elected for only two years, the members 
assumed to themselves the right of holding office indefinitely, and the repre- 
sentative systent was thus virtually abolished. The doctrines and rituals of 
the Church of England havin!::^ been made- the religion of the State, intolerance 
began to grow. Baptists and Quakers- were compelled to pay heavy fines. 
The salaries of the royal officers being paid from duties upon exported tobacco, 
these officials were made independent of the people.* Oppressive and unequal 
taxes were levied, and the idle aristocracy formed a distinct and ruling class. 
The "common people" — the men of toil and substantial worth — formed a 
republican party, and rebellious murmurs were heard on every side. They 
desired a sufficient reason for strengthening their power, and it soon appeared. 
The menaces of the Susquehannah Indians," a fierce tribe of Lower Pennsylva- 
nia, gave the people a plausible pretense for arming during the summer of 
1675. The Indians had been driven from their hunting-grounds at the head 
of the Chesapeake Bay by the Senecas,* and coming down the Potomac, they 
made war upon the Maryland settlements.'' They finally committed murders 
upon Virginia soil, and retaliation' caused the breaking out of a fierce border 
war. The inhabitants, exasperated and alarmed, called loudly upon Governor 
Berkele}^ to take immediate and energetic measures for the defense of the col- 
ony. His slow and indecisive movements were very unsatisfactory, and loud 
murmurs were heard on every side. At length Nathaniel Bacon,* an energetic 
and highly esteemed republican, acting in behalf of his party, demanded per- 
mission for the people to arm and protect themselves.' Berkeley's sagacity 
perceived the danger of allowing discontented men to have arms, and he refused. 
The Indians came nearer and nearer, until laborers on Bacon's plantation, near 
Richmond, were murdered. That leader then yielded to the popular will, and 
placed himself at the head of four or five hundred men, to drive back the 
enemy. Berkeley, jealous of Bacon's popularity, proclaimed him a traitor 



* In 1673, tlie king gave to Lord Culpepper and the Earl of Arlington, two of his profligate 
favorites, "all the dominion of land and water called Virginia," for the terra of thirty years. 

» Note 7, page 94. 

^ One of the charges made against the King of England in the Declaration of Independence, 
more than a hundred years later, was that he had " made judges dependent on his will alone for 
the tenure of their offices and the amount and payment of their salaries." * Page 17. 

* Page 23. * Page 82. 

' Jolm "Washington, an ancestor of the commander-in-chief of the American armies a century 
later, commanded some troops against an Indian fort on tlie Potomac. Some chiefs, who were 
sent to his camp to treat for peace, were treaclierously slain, and this excited the fierce resentment 
©f the Susquehannahs. 

* He was born in England, was educated a lawyer, and in Virginia was a member of the coun- 
cil. He was about thirty years of age at that time. 

* King Philip's war was then raging in Massachusetts, and the white people, everywhere, were 
alarmed. See page 124. 



1G88.] VIRGINIA. m 

[May, 1676J, and sent troops to arrest him. Some of his more timid followers 
returned, but sterner patriots adhered to his fortunes. The people generally 
sympathized -with him, and in the lower counties they arose in open rebellion. 
Berkeley Avas obliged to recall his troops to suppress the insurrection, and in 
the mean Avhile Bacon drove the Indians' back toward the Rappahannock. He 
was soon after elected a burgess,^ but on approaching Jamestown, to take his 
seat in the Assembly, he was arrested. For fear of the people, Avho made hos- 
tile demonstrations, the governor soon pardoned him and all his followers, and 
hypocritically professed a personal regard for the bold republican leader. 

Popular opinion had now manifestly become a power in Virginia ; and the 
pressure of that opinion compelled Berkeley to yield at all points. The long 
aristocratic Assembly was dissolved ; many abuses were corrected, and all the 
privileges formerly enjoyed by the people were restored.^ Fearing treachery 
in the capital. Bacon withdrew to the Middle Plantation,* where he was joined 
by three or four hundred armed men from the upper counties, and was pro- 
claimed commander-in-chief of the Virginia troops. The governor regarded the 
movement as rebellious, and refused to sign Bacon's commission. The patriot 
marched to Jamestown, and demanded it without delay. The frightened governor 
speedily complied [July 4, IGTG], and, concealing his anger, he also, on compul- 
sion, signed a letter to the king, highly commending the acts and motives of the 
"traitor." This was exactly one hundred years, to a day, before the English 
colonies in America declared themselves free and independent, the logic of 
which the King of Great Britain was compelled, reluctantly, to acknowledge, a 
few years later. The Virginia Assembly was as pliant before the successful 
leader as the governor, and gave him the commission of a general of a thousand 
men. On receiving it. Bacon marched against the Pamunkey Indians.^ When 
he had gone, Berkeley, faithless to his professions, crossed the York River, and 
at Gloucester summoned a convention of royalists. All the proceedings of tho 
Republican Assembly Avere reversed, and, contrary to the advice of his friends, 
the governor again proclaimed Bacon a traitor, on the 29th of July. The 
indignation of the patriot leader was fiercely kindled, and, marching back to 
Jamestown, he lighted up a civil Avar. The property of royalists was confis- 
cated, their Avives were seized as hostages, and their plantations Avere desolated. 
Berkeley fled to the eastern shore of the Chesapeake. Bacon proclaimed his 
abdication, and, dismissing the republican troops, called an Assembly in his 
own name, and Avas about to cast off all alleglajice to the English CroAvn, Avhen 



' Page 40. 

- The chief leaders of the repubhcan party at the capital, were AA^illiam Drummond, who had 
been governor of North Carolina [page 97], and Colonel Richard Lawrence. 

' This event was the planting of one of tho most vigorous and fruitful germs of American 
nationality. It was the first bending of power to tlie boldly-expressed will of the people. 

* Williamsburg, four miles from Jamestown, and midway between tho York and James Rivera, 
was then called the Middle Planiation. After the accession of William and Mary [see page 113], 
a town was laid out in the form of the ciphers AVM., and was named AVilliamsburg. Governor 
Nicholson made it the capital of the province in 1698. 

' This was a small tribe on the ramunkcy River, one of the chief tributaries of the York 
River. 



112 



THE COLONIES. [1619. 




intelligence was received of the arrival of imperial troops to quell the rehellion/ 
Great was the joy of the governor, when informed of the arrival of the hoped- 
for succor, for his danger was imminent. With some royalists and Enghsh 
sailors under Major Robert Beverley, he now [Sept. 7] returned to Jamestown. 
Bacon collected hastily his troops, and drove the governor and his friends down 
the James River. Informed that a large body of royalists and imperial troops 
Avere approaching, the republicans, unable to maintain their position at James- 
town, applied the torch [Sept. 30] just as the night shadows came over the 
village.'' When the sun arose on the following morning, 
the first town built by Englishmen in America,^ was a 
heap of smoking ruins. Nothing remained standing 
but a fcAV chimneys, and that old church tower, which 
now attracts the eye and heart of the voyager upon the 
bosom of the James River. This Avork accomplished. 
Bacon pressed forward with his little army toward the 
York, determined to drive the royalists from Virginia. 
CHURCH TowEE. ^^^^ ^^® ^""^^^ smittcn by a deadlier foe than armed men. 

The malaria of the marshes at Jamestown had poisoned 
his veins, and he died [Oct. 11. 1676J of malignant fever, on the north bank 
of the York. There was no man to receive the mantle of his ability and influ- 
ence, and his departure was a death-blow to the cause ho had espoused. His 
friends and followers made but feeble resistance, and before the first of Novem- 
ber, Berkeley returned to the Middle Plantation^ in triumph. 

The dangers and vexations to which the governor had been exposed during 
these commotions, rendered the haughty temper of the baron irascible, and he 
signalized his restoration to power by acts of wanton cruelty. Twenty-two of 
the insurgent leaders had been hanged,^ when the more merciful Assembly im- 
plored him to shed no more blood. But he continued fines, imprisonments, and 
confiscations, and ruled with an iron hand and a stony heart until recalled by 
the king in April, 1677, who had become disgusted with his cruel conduct.^ 
There was no printing press in Virginia to record current history,^ and for a 

* This was an error. The fleet sent with troops to quell the insurrection, did not arrive until 
April the following year, when aU was over. Colonel Jefireys, the successor of Berkeley, came 
with the fleet. 

"^ Besides the cliurch and court-house, Jamestown contained sixteen or eighteen houses, built 
of brick, and quite commodious, and a large number of humble log cabins. 

^ The church, of which the brick tower alone remains, was built about 1620. It was probably 
the third church erected in JamestowTi. The ruin is now [1856] a few rods from the encroaching 
bank of the river, and is about thirty feet in height. The engraving is a correct representation of 
its present appearance. In the grave-yard adjoining are fragments of several monuments. 

* Note 4, page 111. 

* The first man executed was Colonel Hansford. He has been justly termed the first martyr in 
the cause of liberty in America. Drummond and Lawrence were also executed. They were con- 
sidered ringleaders and the prime instigators of tlie rebellion. 

^ Charles said, "The old fool has taken more Uves in that naked coimtry than I have taken for 
the murder of mj' father." 

' Berkeley was an enemy to popular enliglitenment. He said to commissioners sent from En- 
dand in 1671, "Thank God there are no fi-ee schools nor printing press; and I hope we shall not 
liave these hundred years; for learning has brought disobedience, and heresy, and sects into the 
world, and printing has divulged these, and libels against the best government." Despots are 
■always afraid of the printmg press, for it is the most destructive foe of tyranny. 



1688.] VIRGINIA. J^g 

hundred years the narratives of the royalists gave hue to the whole affair. 
Bacon was always regarded as a traitor, and the effort to establish a free gov- 
ernment is knoAvn in history as Bacon's Rebellion. Such, also, would have 
been the verdict of history, had Washington and his compatriots been unsuc- 
cessful. Too often success is accounted a virtue, hnt failure, a crime. 

Long years elapsed before the "eflfects of these civil commotions were effaced. 
The people were borne down by the petty tyranny of royal rulers, yet the prin- 
ciples of Republicanism grew apace. The popular Assembly became winnowed 
of its aristocratic elements ; and, notwithstanding royal troops were quar- 
tered in Virginia,' to overawe the people, the burgesses were always firm in the 
maintenance of popular rights." In reply to Governor Jeffreys, when he ap- 
pealed to the authority of the Great Seal of England, in defense of his arbitrary 
act in seizing the books and papers of the Assembly, the burgesses said, " that 
such a breach of privilege could not be commanded under the Great Seal, be- 
cause they could not find that any king of England had ever done so in former 
times." The king commanded the governor to " signify his majesty's indigna- 
tion at language so seditious ;" but the burgesses were as indifferent to royal 
frowns as they Avere to the governor's menaces. 

A libertine from the jjurlieus of the licentious court now came to rule the 
liberty-loving Virginians. It was Lord Culpepper, who, under the grant of 
1673,^ had been appointed governor for life in 1677. He arrived in 1680. His 
profligacy and rapacity disgusted the people. Discontents ripened into insur- 
rections, and the blood of patriots again flowed.* At length the king himself 
became incensed against Culpeppe'r, revoked his grant' in 1684, and deprived 
him of ofiice. Effingham, his successor, was equally rapacious, and the people 
were on the eve of a general rebellion, when king Charles died, and his brother 
James^ was proclaimed [Feb. 1685] his successor, with the title of James the 
Second. The people hoped for benefit by the change of rulers, but their bur- 
dens were increased. Again the wave of rebellion was rising high, when the 
revolution of 1688 placed William of Orange and his wife IMary upon the 
throne." Then a real change for the better took place. The detested and 
detestable Stuarts were forever driven from the seat of power in Great Britain. 
That event, wrought out by the people, infused a conservative principle into 
the workings of the English constitution. The popular will, expressed l)y Par- 



' These troops were under the command of a wise veteran, Sir Henry Chicheley, who managed 
with prudence. They proved a source of much discontent, because their subsistence was drawn 
from the planters For the same cause, disturbances occurred in New York ninety vears afterward. 
See page 218. ^ Page 71. =■ Note'l, page 110. 

* By the king's order, Culpepper caused several of the insurgents, who were men of iufluenco, 
to be hanged, and a " reign of terror/' nii.scallod inmquillHy, followed. 

^ Arlington [note 1, page 110] had already disposed of hi.'^ interest in the grant to Culpepper. 

^ James, Duke of York, to whom Charles gave the New Netherlands in 1664. See pagv; 144. 

' James the Second, by his bigotry (he was a Roman Catholic), tyranny, and oppression, ren- 
dered himself hateful to his subjects. William, Prince of Orange, Stadtholder of Holland, who had 
married Mary, a Protestant daughter of James, and his eldest child, was invited by the incensed 
people to come to the English throne. He came with Dutch troops, and landed at Torbay on the 
5th of November, 1GS8. .Tames was deserted by his soldier.-;, and he and his family .so\ight safety 
in flight. William and Mary were proclaimed joint monarclis of Kngland on tln^ 13tli of ]<Vl)ruaryi. 
1689. This act consummated that revolution which Voltaire styled "the era of English liberty." 

8 



114 THE COLONIES. [1620. 

liament, became potential ; and the personal character, or caprices of the mon- 
arch, had comparatively little influence upon legislation. The potency of the 
National Assembly was extended to similar colonial organizations. The powers 
of governors were defined, and the rights of the people were understood. Bad 
men often exercised authority in the colonies, but it was in subordination to the 
English Constitution : and, notwithstanding commercial restrictions bore heav- 
ily upon the enterprise of the colonies, the diffusion of just political ideas, and 
the growth of free institutions in America, were rapid and healthful. 

From the revolution of 1688, down to the commencement of the French and 
Indian war, the history of Virginia is the history of the steady, quiet prog- 
ress of an ind,ustrious people, and presents no prominent events of interest to 
the general reader.* 



CHAPTER II. 

MASSACHUSETTS. [1620.] 

"Welcome, Englishmen! welcome. Englishmen!" were the first Avords 
which the Pilgrim Fathers^ heard from the lips of a son of the American 
forest. It was the voice of Samoset, a Wampanoag chief, who had learned a 
few English words of fishermen at Penobscot. His brethren had hovered 
around the little community of sufferers at New Plymouth^ for a hundred days, 
when he boldly approached [March 26, 1621 J, and gave the friendly saluta- 
tion. He told them to possess the land, for the occupants had nearly all been 
swept away l)y a pestilence. The Pilgrims thanked God for thus making their 
seat more secure, for they feared the hostility of the Aborigines. When Sam- 
oset again appeared, he was accompanied by Squanto,^ a chief Avho had recently 
returned from captivity in Spain ; and they told the white people about Mas- 
sasoit, the grand sachem of the Wampanoags, then residing at Mount Hope. 
An interview was planned. The old sachem came with barbaric pomp,* and he 
^and Governor Carver' smoked the calumet' together. A preliminary treaty of 
friendship and alliance was formed [April 1, 1621], which remained unbroken 



' The population at that time was about 50.000. of whom one half were slaves. The tobacco 
trade had become very important, the exports to P^ngland and Ireland being about 30,000 hogs- 
heads that year. Ahnost a hundred vessels annually came from those countries to Virginia for 
■tobacco. A powerful militia of almost 9,000 men was organized, and they no longer feared their 
dusky neighbors. The militia became expert in the use of tire-arms in the woods, and back to this 
period the Virginia rifleman may look for the foundation of his fame as a marksman. The province 
contained twenty-two counties, and forty-eight parishes, with a church and a clergyman in each, 
and a great deal of glebe land. But there was no printing press nor book-store in the colony. A 
press was first established in Virginia in 1729. 

^ Page 77. ^ Page 78. « Page 74. 

^ Massasoit approached, with a guard of sixty warriors, and took post upon a neighboring hill. 
There he sat in state, and received Edward Winslow as embassador from the English. Leaving 
Winslow with his warriors as security for his own safety, the sachem went into New Plymouth and 
•treated with Governor Carver. Note 5, page 14. ' Page 78. ' Page 14. 



1755.] MASSACHUSETTS. 115 

for fifty years.' Massasoit rejoiced at his good fortune, for Canonicus, the head 
of the powerful Narragansetts,* Avas his enemy, and he needed strength. 

Three days after the interview with the Wampanoag sachem [April 3], 
Governor Carver suddenly died. William Bradford,^ the earliest historian of 
the colony, was appointed liis successor. He was a wise and prudent man, and 
for thirty years he managed the public affairs of the colony with great sagacity. 
He was a man just fitted for such a station, and he fostered the colony Avith 
parental care. The settlers endured great trials during the first four years of 
their sojourn. They Avere barely saved from 5tar\';ition in the autumn of 1G21, 
by a scanty crop of Indian corn.'' In November of that year, thirty-five im- 
migrants (some of them their weak brethren of the Specdweliy joined them, and 
increased their destitution. The Avinter Avas severe, and produced great suffer- 
ing : and the colonists Avere kept in continual fear by the menaces of Canonicus, 
the great chief of the Narragansetts, who regarded the English as intruders. 
Bradford acted wisely Avith the chief, and soon made him sue for peace.' The 
poAvcr, but not the hatred, of the wily Indian Avas subdued, yet he Avas com- 
pelled to be a passive friend of the English. 

Sixty-three more immigrants arrived at Plymouth in July, 1622. They 
had been sent by Weston, a Avealthy, dissatisfied member of the Plymouth Com- 
pany,' to plant a new colony. J\Iany of them were idle and dissolute ;' and 
after living upon the slender means of the Plymouth people for scA'eral Aveeks, 
they Avent to Wissagusset (noAV Weymouth), to commence a settlement. Their 
improvidence produced a famine ; and they exasperated the Indians by begging 
and stealing supplies for their Avants. A plot Avas devised by the saA^ages for 
their destruction, but through the agency of Massasoit,' it Avas rcA^ealed [March, 
1623J to the Plymouth people ; and Captain Miles Standish, Avith eight men, 
hastened to Wissagusset in time to aA^ert the blow. A chief and seA^eral war- 
riors Avere killed in a battle ;'" and so terrified were the surrounding tribes by 



' Page 124. ' Page 22. 

' William Bradford was born at Anstcrfield, in the north of England, in 1588. Ho followed 
Robinson to Holland ; came to America in the Mayflower [see page 77] ; and was annually elected 
governor of the colony from 1621 until his death in 1657. 

' ■• AMiile Captain Miles Standish and others were seeking a place to land [sec page 78], they 
found some maize, or Indian corn, in one of the deserted huts of the savages. Afterward, Samoset 
and others taught them how to cultivate the gram (then unknown in Europe), and this supply serv- 
ing for seed, providentially saved them from starvation. The grain now first received the name of 
Indian corn. Early in September [1621], an exploring part}--, under Standish, coasted northward to 
Shawmut, the site of Boston, where they f mnd a few Indians. The place was dehghtful, and for a 
while, the Pilgrims thought of removing thither. ^ Page 77. 

" Canonicus dwelt upon Connanicut Island, opposite Newport. In token of his contempt and 
defiance of the English, he sent [Feb., 1622] a bundle of arrows, wrapped in a rattlesnake's skin, 
to Governor Bradford. Tiie governor accepted the hostile challenge, and then returned the skin, 
filled with powder and shot. These substances were new to the savages. They regarded them 
with superstitious awe, as possessing some evil influence. They were sent froni village to village, 
and excited general alarm. The pride of Canonicus was humbled, and he sued for peace. The 
example of Canonicus was followed by several chiefs, who were equally alarmed. ' Page 63. 

" There was quite a number of indentured servants, and men of no character; a population 
wholly unfit to found an independent State. 

* In gratitude for attentions and medicine during a severe illness, Massasoit revealed the plot to 
Edward AVinslow a few days before the time appointed to strike the blow. 

'" Standish carried the chiefs head m triumph to Plymouth. It was Iwrne upon a pole, and \^-as 
placed upon the palissades [npto 1, page 127] of the little fort which had just been erected. Tha 



I 



IIQ THE COLONIES. [1620. 

the event, that several chiefs soon appeared at Plymouth to crave the fricnt'ship 
of the English. The settlement at Wissagussct was broken up, however, and 
most of the immigrants returned to England. 

Social perils soon menaced the stability of the colon/. The pavtncrsliip of 
merchants and colonists' was an unprofitable speculation for all. The commu- 
nity system" operated unfavorably upon the industry and thrift of the colony, 
and the merchants had few or no returns for their investments. Ill feelings 
were created by mutual criminations, and the capitalists commenced a series of 
annoyances to force the workers into a dissolution of the league." The partner- 
ship continued, however, during the prescribed term of seven years, and then 
[1627] the colonists purchased the interest of the London merchants for nine 
thousand dollars. Becoming sole proprietors of the soil, they divided the whole 
property equally, and to each man was assigned twenty acres of land in fee. 
New incentives to industry followed, and the blessings of plenty, even upon 
that unfruitful soil, rewarded them all.^ At about the same time, the govern- 
ment of the colony l>ecamo slightly changed. The only officers, at first, were 
a governor and an assistant. In 1624, five assistants were chosen ; and in 
1630, when the colony numbered almost five hundred souls, seven assistants 
were elected. This pure democracy prevailed, both in Church and State, for 
almost nineteen years, when a representative government was instituted 
[1639], and a pastor was chosen as spiritual guide.^ 

James the First died in the spring of 1625 ; and his son and successor, 
Charles the First, inherited his father's hatred of the Nonconformists. « Many 
of their ministers were silenced during the first years of his reign, and the un- 
easiness of the great body of Nonconformists daily increased. Already, "White, 
a Puritan minister of Dorchester, in the west of England, had persuaded sev- 
eral influential men of that city to attempt the establishment of a new asylum 
for the oppressed, in America. They chose the rocky promontory of Cape 
Anne for the purpose [1624], intending to connect the settlement with the fish- 
ing business ; but the enterprise proved to be more expensive than profitable, 

good Robinson [pajre "77], when he heard of it, wrote, "Oh, how happy a thing it would have been, 
that you had converted some before you killed an}-." 

""Page 77. ■ Note 1, page 70. 

^ The merchants refused Mr. Robinson a passage to America ; attempted to force a minister 
upon the colonists who was friendly to the Estabhshed Church ; and even sent vessels to interfere 
with the infant commerce of the settlers. 

* The colonists unsuccessfully tried the cultivation of tobacco. They raised enough grain and 
vegetables for their own consumption, and relied upon traffic in furs with the Indians, for obtaining 
the means of paying for cloths, implements, etc., procured from England. In 1627, they made the 
firet step toward the establishment of the cod fisher_v, since become so important, by constructing a 
salt work, and curing some lish. In 1624, Edward Winslow imported three cows and a bull, and 
soon those invaluable animals became numerous in the colony. 

* Tlie colonists considered Robinson (who was yet in Leyden), as their pastor ; and religious 
exercises, in the way of prayer and exhortation, were conducted by Elder Brewster and othera 
On Sunday afternoons a question would be propounded, to which all liad a right to speak. Even 
after they adopted the plan of having a pastor, the people were so democratic in religious matters, 
that a minister did not remain long at Plymouth. The doctrine of "private judgment" was put in 
full practice ; and the religious meetings were often the arena of intemperate debate and confusion. 
In 1629, thirty-five persons, the remainder of Robinson's congregation at Leyden, joined the Pil- 
grims at Plymouth, among whom was Robinson's family; but the good man never saw Xew l"n- 
gland liimsel£ * Note 2, page 76. 



1755.] 



MASSACHUSETTS. 



117 



and it was abandoned. A few years afterward, a company purchased a tract 
of land [March 29, 1628] defined as being "three miles north of any and every 
part of the Merrimac River," and "three miles south of 
any and every part of the Charles River," and westward to 
the Pacific Ocean.' In the summer of 1628, John Endi- 
cot, and a hundred emigrants came over, and at Naumkeag 
(now Salem) they laid the foundations of the Colony of 
Massachusetts Bay. The proprietors received a charter from 
the king the following year [March 14, 1629], and they 
were incorporated by the name of " The Governor and Com- 
pany of the Massachusetts Bay in New England* 

The colony at Salem increased rapidly, and soon began to spread. In July, 
1629. " three godly ministers" (Skeiton, Higginson, and Bright) came with 




FIRST COLONY SEAL. 




two hundred settlers, and a part of them laid the foundations of Charlestown, at 
Mishawam. A new stimulus was now given to emigration by salutary arrange- 



' This was purchased from the Council of Plymouth. The chief men of tlio company were 
John Humphrey (brother-in-law to the earl of Lincoln), John Endicot, Sir Henry Roswcll, Sir John 
Youn^', Thomas Southcote, Simon Whitcomb, John Winthrop, Thomas Dudley, Sir Richard Salton- 
slull, and others. Eminent men in New England afterward became interested in the enterprise. 

^ The administration of affairs was intrusted tn a (jovcriior, deputy, and eighteen assistants, who 
were to l)e elected amiually by the stockholders of the corporation. A general assembly of the 
freemi^n of the colony was to be held at least four times a year, to legislate for the colony. The 
king claimed no jurisdiction, for he regarded the whole matter as a trading operation, not as the 
foundi!ig of an empire. The in.strument conferred on the colonists all the rights of English subjects, 
and allcrward became the text f(jr many powerful discourses against the usurpation of royalty. 



118 THE COLONIES. [1620. 

ment3. On the 1st of September, the members of the company, at a meeting in 
Cambridge, England, signed an agreement to transfer the charter and govern- 
ment to the colonists. It was a wise and benevolent conclusion, for men of for- 
tune and intelligence immediately prepared to emigrate when such a democracy- 
should be established. John Winthrop' and others, with about three hundred 
families, arrived at Salem in July [1630] following. Winthrop had been 
chosen governor before his departure, with Thomas Dudley for deputy, and a 
council of eighteen. The new immigrants located at, and named Dorchester, 
Roxbury, Watertown, and Cambridge ; and during the summer, the governor 
and some of the leading men, hearing of a spring of excellent Avater on the pen- 
insula of Shawmut, went there, erected a few cottages, and founded Boston, 
the future metropolis of New England.^ The peninsula was composed of three 
hills, and for a long time it was called Tri-Mountain.' 

As usual, the ravens of sickness and death followed these first settlers. 
Many of them, accustomed to ease and luxury in England, suffered much, and 
before December, two hundred were in their graves.^ Yet the survivors were 
not disheartened, and during the winter of intense suffering which followed, 
they applied themselves diligently to the business of founding a State. In 
May, 1631, it was agreed at a general assembly of the people, that all the 
officers of government should thereafter be chosen by the freemen^ of the colony ; 
and in 1634, the pure democracy was changed to a representative government, 
the second in America." The colony flourished. Chiefs from the Indian tribes 
dined at Governor "Winthrop's table, and made covenants of peace and friend- 
ship with the English. Winthrop journeyed on foot to exchange courtesies with 
Bradford at Plymouth,'' a friendly salutation came from the Dutch in New 
Netherland,^ and a sliip from Virginia, laden with corn [May, 1632], sailed 
into Boston harbor. A bright future Avas dawning. 

The character of the Puritans^ Avho founded the colony of INIassachusetts 
Bay, presents a strange problem to the scrutiny of the moral philosopher. Vic- 
tims of intolerance, they Avere themselves equally intolerant Avhen clothed with 
power." Their ideas of civil and religious freedom Avere narroAv, and their prac- 



^ He was bom in England in 1558, and was one of the most active men in New England from 
1C30 until liis death in 1649. His journal, giving an interesting account of the colony, has been 
published. 

^ The whole company under Winthrop intended to join the settlers at Charlestowm, but a pre- 
vailing sickness there, attributed to unwholesome water, caused them to locate elsewhere. The 
fine spring of water which gushed from one of the three hills of Shawmut. was regarded with great 
favor. ^ From this is derived the word Trtmont. 

* Among these was Iligginson, Isaac Johnston (a principal leader in the enterprise, and the 
wealthiest of the founders of Boston), and his wife the "Lady Arabella," a daughter of the earl of 
Lincoln. She died at Salom, and her husband did not long survive her. 

* None were considered freemen unless they were members of some church within tho 
colony. From the beginning, the closest intimacy existed between the Church and State in Massa- 
chusetts, and that intimacy gave rise to a great many disorders. This provision was repealed in 
1665. *= Page 71. ' Page 115. " Page 72. = Page 75. 

" Sir Richard Saltonstall, who did not remain long in America, severely rebuked the people of 
Massachusetts, in a letter to tho two Boston ministers, Wilson and Cotton. " It doth a little grieve 
my spirit," he said, "to hear what sad things are reported daily of your tyranny and persecutions 
in" New England, as that you fine, whip, and imprison men for their consciences." Thirty yeara 
later [1665], the king's commissioner at Picataqua, in a manuscript letter beibre me, addressed to 



1755.] MASSACHUSETTS. 119 

tical interpretation of the Golden Rule, was contrary to the intentions of Him 
who uttered it. Yet they were honest and true men ; and out of their love of 
freedom, and jealousy of their inherent rights, grew their intolerance. They 
regarded Churchmen and Roman Catholics as their deadly enemies, to be kept 
at a distance.' A wise caution dictated this course. A consideration of the 
prevailing spirit of the age, Avhen bigotry assumed the seat of justice, and super- 
stition was the counselor and guide of leading men, should cause us to 

" Be to their faults a little blind, 
And to their virtues, very kind." 

Roger Williams, himself a Puritan minister, and victim of persecution in 
England, was among those who first felt tlic power of Puritan intolerance. He 
was chosen minister at Salem, in 1634, and his more enlightened views, freely 
expressed, soon aroused the civil authorities against him. He denied the right 
of civil magistrates to control the consciences of the people, or to Avithhold their 
protection from any religious sect whatever. He denied the right of the king 
to require an oath of allegiance from the colonists ; and even contended that 
obedience to magistrates ou<2;ht not to be enforced. He denounced the charter 
from the king as invalid, because he had given to the white people the lands of 
other owners, the Indians.* These doctrines, and others more theological,' he 
maintained Avith vehemence, and soon the colony became a scene of great com- 
motion on that account. He Avas remonstrated Avitli by the elders, Avarned by 
the magistrates, and finally, refusing to cease Avhat was deemed seditious 
preaching, he was banished [November, 1635] from the colony. In the dead 
of Avinter he departed [January, 1636] for the Avildcrness, and became the 
founder of Rhode Island.* 

Political CA^ents in England caused men who loved quiet to turn their 
thoughts more and more toAvard the Ncav World; and the year 1635 was 
remarkable for an immense immigration to Ncav England. During that year 
full three thousand ncAV settlers came, among Avhom Avere men of Avealth and 
influence. The most distinguished Avere Hugh Peters'* (an eloquent preacher), 



the magistrates of Massachusetts, say, " It is possible that the charter which you so much idolize 
may be forfeited until you have cleared yourselves of those many injustices, oppressions, violences, 
and blood for which you are complained against." 

' Lyford, who was sent out to the Pilyriins^ by the London partners, as their minister, was re- 
fused and expelled, because he was friendly to the Church of England. John and Samuel Browne, 
residents at Salem, and members of End'cot's council, were arrested by that ruler, and sent to En- 
gland as " factious and evil-conditioned persons," because they insisted upon the use of the Liturgy, 
or printed forms of the English Church, in their worship. 

^ See page 22. This was not strictly true, for, until King Philip's war [page 124], in 1G75, not 
a foot of ground was occupied by the New England colonists, on any other score but that of fair 
purchase. 

' He maintained that an oath should not be tendered to an unconverted person, and that no 
Christian could lawfully pray with such an one, though it were a wife or child ! In the intem- 
perance of his zeal, Williams often exhibited intolerance himself, and at this daj- would 1)6 called a 
bigot. Yet his tolerant teachings in general had a most salutary eflect upon Puritan exclusiveness. 

* Page 89. 

' Peters afterward returned to England, was very active in public affairs during the civil war, 
and on the accession of Charles the Second, was found guilty of favoring the death of the king's, 
father, and was executed in October, IGGO. 



^OQ THE COLONIES. [1620. 

and Henry Vane, an enthusiastic young man of twenty-five. In 1636, Vane 
was elected governor, an event which indirectly proved disastrous to the peace 
of the colony. The banishment of Roger Williams had awakened bitter relig- 
ous dissensions, and the minds of the people were prepared to listen to any new 
teacher. As at Plymouth, so in the JNIassachusetts Bay colony, religious ques- 
tions were debated at the stated meetings.' Women were not allowed to engage 
in these debates, and some deemed this an abridgment of their rights. Among 
these was Anne Hutchinson, an able and eloquent woman, who established 
meetings at her own house, for her sex, and there she promulgated peculiar 
views, which some of the magistrates and ministers pronounced seditious and 
heretical.^ These views were embraced by Governor Vane, several magistrates, 
and a majority of the Icadihg men of Boston.^ Winthrop and others opposed 
them, and in the midst of great excitement, a synod was called, the doctrines 
of ]Mrs. Hutchinson were condemned, and she and her family were first impris- 
oned in Boston, and then banished [August, 1637] from the colony." Vane 
lost his popularity, and failing to be elected the following year, he returned to 
England.^ Some of Mrs. Hutchinson's followers left the colony, and established 
settlements in Rhode Island.^ 

The great abatement of danger to be apprehended from the Indians, caused 
l)y the result of the Pequod war,^ was favorable to the security of the colony, 
and it flourished amazingly. Persecution also gave it sustenance. The non- 
conformists in the mother country suflered more and more, and hundreds fled to 
New England. The church and the government became alarmed at the rapid 
growth of a colony, so opposed, in its feelings and laws, to the character of 
both. Efforts were put forth to stay the tide of emigration. As early as 1633, 
a proclamation for that purpose had been published, but not enforced : and a 
fleet of eight vessels, bearing some of the purest patriots of the realm, was 
detained in the Thames [Feb. 1634], by order of the privy council.® Believing 
that the colonists "aimed not at new discipline, but at sovereignty," a demand 
was made for a surrender of the patent to the king." The people were silent, 



' Note 5, page 116. 

* She taught that, as the Holy Spirit dwells in every believer, its revelations are superior to the 
teachings of men. It was the doctrine of " private judgment" in its fullest extent. Slie taught that 
every person had the right to judge of the soundness of a minister's teaching, and this was consid- 
ered " rebeUion against the clergy."' She taught the doctrine of Election, and averred that the elect 
saints were sure of their salvation, however vicious their lives might be. 

^ Her brother, Rev. John Wlieelwright, was an eloquent expounder of her views. Tlie theo- 
logical question assumed a poUtical phase, and for a long time influenced the public aflairs of the 
colony. 

* Mrs. Hutchinson and her family took refuge within the Dutch domain, near the present village 
of New Rochelle, in New York. There she and all her family, except a daughter, were murdered 
by the Indians. Note 2, page 141. 

^ Yane was a son of the Secretary of State of Charles the First. He was a repulilican during 
the civil war [note 3, page 108], and for this, Charles the Second had him beheaded in June. 1GG2. 
^ Page 91. ' Page 87. 

* [Note 1, page 400.] It was asserted, and is believed, that Oliver Cromwell and John Hamp- 
den were among the passengers. There is no positive evidence that such was the fact. 

" The general patent for New England was surrendered by the Council of Plymouth, in June, 
1635, without consulting the colonists. The inflexible courage of the latter prevented the evil that 
might have ensued by this faithless act of a company which had made extensive grants; and they 
Jirmly held the charter given to them by the kuig. 



1755.] MASSACHUSETTS. • ;121 

but firm. When a rumor reached them [September 18, 1634] that an arbitrary 
commission/ and a general governor was appointed for all the English colonies 
in America, the Massachusetts people, poor as they were, raised three thousand 
dollars to build fortifications for resistance. Even a quo warranto [April, 
1638]^^ did not affect either their resolution or their condition. Strong in their 
integrity, they continued to strengthen their ncAv State by fostering education,' 
the '• cheap defense of nations," and by other wise appliances of vigorous efforts. 
The civil war* which speedily involved the church and the throne in disaster, 
withdrew the attention of the persecutors from the persecuted. The hope of 
better times at home checked immigration, and thereafter the colony received 
but small accessions to its population, from the mother country. 

The ties of interest and warmest sympathy united the struggling colonists 
of New England. Natives of the same country, the offspring of persecution — 
alike exposed to the Aveapons of hostile Indians and the depredations of the 
Dutch and French,^ and alike menaced with punishment by the parent govern- 
ment — they were as one people. They were now [1643J more than twenty 
thousand in number, and fifty villages had been planted by them. The civil 
war in England" threatened a total subversion of the government, and the Puri- 
tans began to reflect on the establishment of an independent nation eastward of 
the Dutch dominions.^ With this view, a union of the New England colonies was 
proposed in 1637, at the close of the Pequod war. It was favorably received 
by all, but the union was not consummated until 1643, when the colonies of Ply- 
mouth,' Massachusetts," Connecticut and New Haven'" confederated for mutual 
welfare. Rhode Island asked for admittance into the Union [1643], but was 
refused," unless it Avould acknowledge the authority of Plymouth. Local juris- 
diction was jealously reserved by each colony, and the doctrine of State Rights 
was thus early practically developed. It was a confederacy of independent 
States like our Union. The general affairs of the confederacy were manao-ed 
by a board of commissioners, consisting of two church-members from each 
colony, who were to meet annually, or oftener if required. Their duty was to 
consider circumstances, and recommend measures for the general good. They 
had no executive power. Their propositions were considered and acted upon by 
the several colonies, each assuming an independent sovereignty. This confed- 



' Tho Archbishop of Canterbury and associates received full power to establish governments nnd 
laws over the American settlements; to regulate religious matters; inflict punishments, and even 
to revoke charters. " Note 3, page 107. 

' In 1636, the General Court at Boston appropriated two thousand dollars for the establishment 
of a college. In 1638, Rev. John Harvard bequeathed more than three tiiou.sand dollars to tlio 
institution which was then located at Cambridge, and it received the name of " Harvard College," 
now one of the first seminaries of learning in the United States. In 1647, a law was pa.ssed, 
requiring every township, which contained fifty householders, to have a school-house, and employ 
a teacher ; and each town containing one thousand freeholders to have a grammar-school. 

" Note 3, page 108. 

* Tiie Dutch of New Netherland [page 72], still claimed jurisdiction upon the Connecticut 
River, and the French settlers in Acadie, eastward of New England, were Ijccoming troublesome to 
the Puritans. 
» " Note 3, page 108. ' Page 72. " Page 78. 

" Page 117. " Page 89. " Page 91. 



122 



THE COLONIES. [1'^'20- 




eracy remained unmolested more than forty years' [1643— 1686 j, during which 
time the government of England was changed three times. 

The colony of Massachusetts Bay was always the leading one of New En- 
gland, and assumed to be a " perfect republic." After the Union, a legislative 
change took place. The representatives had hitherto held their sessions in the 
same room with the governor and council ; now they convened in a separate 
apartment ; and the distinct House of Representatives, or democratic branch 
of the legislature, still existing in our Federal and State Governments, was 
established in 1644. Unlike Virginia,' the colonists of New England sympa- 
thized with the English republicans, in their efforts to abolish royalty. 
Ardently attached to the Parliament, they found in Cromwell,' when he 
assumed supreme authority, a sincere friend and protector of their liberties. 
No longer annoyed by the frowns and menaces of royalty, the energies of the 
people Avere rapidly developed, and profitable commerce was created between 

Massachusetts and the West Indies. This 
„«..»^";..M, trade broudit bullion, or uncoined gold and 

-}i}>.i.wiio^^\ silver, into the colony ; and in 1652, the 
ifejf^fJVr^'^i authorities exercised a prerogative of in- 
//^i dependent sovereignty, by establishing a 
^^"^•/i^^^ ^i^<^' ^^^^ coining silver money,' the first 
within the territory of the United States. 

FIRST MONEY COINED^IX THE UNITED ^^^.^^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^,^ SettlcmCntS in tho 

present State of Maine, imitating the act of 
those of New Hampshire," eleven years earlier [1641], came under the juris- 
diction of Massachusetts. 

And now an important element of trouble and perplexity was introduced. 
There arrived in Boston, in July, 1656, two zealous religious women, named 
Mary Fisher and Ann Austin, who Avere called Quakers. This was a sect 
recently evolved from the heaving masses of English society,^ claiming to be 
more rifid Puritans than all ayIio had preceded them. Letters unfiivorable to 
the sect had been received in the colony, and the two Avomen Avere cast into 
prison, and confined for several Aveeks.' With eight others who arrived during 

' When James the Second came to the throne, the charters of all the colonies were taken away 
or suspended. When local governments were re-established after the Revolution of 1688, there no 
longer existed a necessity for the Union, and the confederacy was dissolved. 

^ Page 108. ^ Note 3, page 108. 

■* In October, 1651, the general court or legislature of Massachusetts ordered silver coins of the 
values of threepence, sixpence, and a shilling sterling, to be made. The mint-master was allowed 
fifteen pence out of every twenty shillings, tor his trouble. He made a laige fortune by the busi- 
ness. From the circumstance that the effigy of a pine-tree was stamped ou one side, these coins, 
now very rare, are called pine-tree money. The date [1652] was not altered for thirty years Mas- 
sachusetts was also the first to issue paper money in the shape of treasury notes. See page 132. 

^ Page 80. 

" Tiie founder of the sect was George Fox. who promulgated his peculiar tenets about 1650. 
He was a man of education and exalted purity of character, and soon, lenrned and inlluential men 
became his co-workers. They still maintain the highest character for morality and practical Chris- 
tianity. See note 7, page 94. 

'' Their trunks were searched, and the religious IjooIvS found in them were burned by the hang- 
man, on Boston Common. Suspected of being witches [note 7, page 132], their persons were 
examined in order to discover certain marks which would indicate their connection with the Evil One. 



1755.] MASSACHUSETTS. |23 

the year, thoj were sent back to England.' Others came, and a special act 
against the Quakers was put in force [1G57J, but to no purpose. Opposition 
increased their zeal, and, as usual Avith enthusiasts, precisely because tiiey were 
not wanted, they came. Tliey sufiered stripes, imprisonments, and general 
contempt ; and finally, in 1658, on the recommendation of the Federal Com- 
missioners," Massachusetts, by a majority of one vote, banished them, on pain 
of death. The excuse pleaded in extenuation of this barbarous law Avas, that 
the Quakers preached doctrines dangerous to good government.^ But the death 
penalty did not deter the exiles from returning ; and many others came because 
they courted the martyr's reward. Some were hanged, others Avere publicly 
Avhipped, and the prisons Avere soon filled Avith the persecuted sect. The scA'er- 
ity of the law finally caused a strong expression of public sentiment against it. 
The Quakers Avere regarded as true martyrs, and the people demanded of the 
magistrates a cessation of the bloody and barl^arous punishments. The death 
penalty Avas abolished, in 1661 ; the fanaticism of the magistrates and the 
Quakers subsided, and a more Christian spirit of toleration prcA^ailed. No 
longer sufferers for opinion's sake, the Quakers turned their attention to the 
Indian tribes, and nobly seconded the efforts of MahcAV and Eliot in the propa- 
gation of the gospel among the pagans of the forest.'' 

On the restoration of monarchy in 1660, the judges Avho condemned Charles 
the First to the block, Avere outlaAved. Tavo of them (William Goffe and EdAvard 
Whalley) fled to America, and were the first to announce at Boston the acces- 
sion of Charles the Second. Orders Avere sent to the colonial authorities for 
their arrest, and officers were dispatched from England for the same purpose. 
The colonists effectually concealed them, and for this act, and the general sym- 
pathy manifested by NeAV England for the republican party, the king resolved 
to shoAV them no favor. They had been exempt from commercial restrictions 
during CromAveirs administration ; noAV these were reviA-ed, and the stringent 
provisions of a ncAV Navigation Act^ were rigorously enforced. The people 
vainly petitioned for relief; and finally, commissioners were sent [August, 
1644] ''to hear and determine all complaints that might exist in NeAV England, 
and take such measures as they might deem expedient for settling the peace 
and security of the country on a solid foundation." ' This was an unAvise 

' Mary Fisher went all the way from London to Adrianople, to carry a divine message to the 
Sultan. She was regarded as insane ; and as the Moslems respect such people as special flivorites 
of God, Mary Fislier was unharmed in tlie Sultan's dominions. " Pago 121. 

* The Q'lakcrs denied all human authority, and regarded the power of magistrates as delegated 
tyranny. Tliey preached purity of life, charity in its broadest sense, and denied tlio right of any 
man to control the opinions of another. Conscience, or " the light within," was considered a suf- 
ficient guide, and they deemed it their special mission to denounce "hireling ministers" and "per- 
secuting magistrates," in person. It was this offensive boldness which engendered the violent 
hatred toward the sect in England and America. 

* John Eliot has been truly called the Apostle to the Indians. ITo began his labors soon after 
his arrival in America, and founded the first churcli among the savages, at Natic, in 1G60, at which 
time there were ten tOAvns of converted Indians in Mas.sachusetts. Thirty-tive years later, it Avas 
estimated that there were not less than three thousand adult Christian Indians in the Islands of 
Martha's Vinevard and Nantucket, alone. ' Note 4, page 109. 

* These were Colonel Richard Nicolls, Sir Robert Carr, George Cartwright and Richard Maver- 
ick. They came with a royal fleet, commanded by Colonel Nicolls. wliich iiad been sent to assert 
English authority over the possessions of the Dutch, in New Nctherland. See page 141. 



124 



MASSACHUSETTS. 



[ig:o. 



movement on the part of the mother country. The colonists regarded the 
measure with indignation, not only as a violation of their charters, but as an 
incipient step toward establishing a system of domination, destructive to their 
liberties. Massachusetts boldly protested against the exercise of the authority 
of the commissioners within her limits, but at the same time asserted her loyalty 
to the sovereign. The commissioners experienced the opposition of the other 
New England colonies, except Rhode Island. Their acts were generally disre- 
garded, and after producing a great deal of irritation, they Avere recalled in 
166G. The people of Massachusetts, triumphant in their opposition to royal 
oppression, ever afterward took a front rank in the march toward complete 
freedom. The licentious king and his ministers Avere too much in love with 
voluptuous ease, to trouble themselves Avith far-off colonies ; and Avhile Old 
England Avas suffering from bad government, and the puissance of the throne 
was lessening in the estimation of the nations, the colonies flourished in purity, 
peace, and strength, until Metacomvt, the son of the good ■ il/assaso//,' 
kindled a most disastrous Indian Avar, known in history as 

KING PHILIP'S WAR. 



Massasolt kept his treaty with the Plymouth 
colony" faithfully Avhile he lived. Metacomet^ or 
P/tilij),^ resumed the covenants of friendship, and 
kept them inviolate for a dozen years. But as 
spreading settlements Avere reducing his domains acre 
by acre, breaking up his hunting grounds, diminish- 
ing his fisheries, and menacing his nation with servi- 
tude or annihilation, his patriotism was aroused, and 
he Avillingly listened to the hot young Avarriors of his 
tribe, avLo counseled a Avar of extermination against 
the English. At Mount Hope' the seat of the chief 
sachems of the Wampanongs, in the solitudes of the 
primeval forests, he planned, Avith consummate skill, cU alliance of all the Ngav 
England tribes,^ ag.iinst the European intruders. 

At this time, there Avere four hundred " praying Indians," as the converts 
to Christianity Avere called, firmly attached to the Avhito people. One of them, 
named John Sassamon, Avho had been educated at Cambridge, and Avas a sort of 
secretary to Philip, after becoming acquainted Avith the plans of the sachem, 




' Pa,Q:e 114. s Page 114. 

^ Massasoit had two sons, whom Governor Price named Alexander and PhiHp, m comphnient 
to their bravery as warriors. Alexander died soon after the decease of his father ; and Philip 
became chief sachem of the Wampanoags. 

* Mount Hope is a conical hill, 300 feet in height, and situated on the west side of Mount Hope 
Bay, about two miles from Bristol, Rhode Island. It was called Pokanoket by the Indians. 

The tribes which became involved in this war numbered, probably, about twenty-five thousand 
souls. Those along the coast of Massachusetts Bay, who had suffered terribly by a pestilence just 
before the Pilgrims came [page 77], had materially increased in numbers ; and other tribes, besides 
the New England Indians proper [page 22], became parties to the conflict. 



nr..j.] MASSACHUSETTS. ]25 

revealed them to the authorities at Plymouth. For this he was slain by his 
countrymen, and three Wauipanoags were convicted of his murder, on slender 
testimony, and hanged. The ire of the tribe was fiercely kindled, and they 
thirsted for vengeance. The cautious Philip Avas overruled by his fiery young 
men, and remembering the wrongs and humiliations he had personally received 
from the English,' he trampled upon solemn treaties, sent his women and chil- 
dren to the Narragansetts for protection, and kindled the flame of war. Mes- 
sengers were sent to other tribes, to arouse them to co-operation, and with all 
the power of Indian eloquence, Metacomct exhorted his followers to curse the 
white men, and swear eternal hostility to the pale faces. He said, in effect : 

'• Awa}' ! aA\'ay ! I will uot hear 

Of aught but death or vougcanco now ; 
By the eternal skies I swear 

My knee shall never learn to bow I 
I will not hear a word of peace, 

Nor clasp in friendl}'- grasp a hand 
Linked to that pale-browed straiitjer raco, 

That works the ruin of our land. 

1;. if. :!: :!: * * 

And till your last white foe shall kneel, 

And in his coward pangs expire, 
Sleep — but to dream of brand and steel ; 

"VVake — but to deal in blood and lire!"' 

Although fierce and determined when once aroused, no doubt Philip com- 
menced hostilities contrary to the teachings of his better judgment, for he was 
sagacious enough to foresee failure. "Frenzy promj)ted their rising. It was 
but the storm in which the ancient inhabitants of the land were to vanish away. 
They rose without hope, and therefore they fought without mercy. To them, 
as a nation, there was no to-morrow. ' 

The bold Philip struck the first blow at Swanzey, thirty-five miles south- 
west from Plymouth. The people were just returning from their houses of 
worship, for it was a day of fasting and humiliation [July 4, 167'j]. in antici- 
pation of hostilities. Many Avere slain and captured, and others fkil to the 
surrounding settlements, and aroused the people. The men of Plymouth, 
joined by those of Boston and vicinity, pressed toward Mount Hope. Philip 
Avas besieged in a swamp for many days, but escaped with most of his Avan-iors, 
and became a fugitiA'e with the Nipmucs.- an interior tribe of Massachusetts. 
These espoused his cause, and Avith full fifteen hundred Avarriors. he hastened 
tOAvard the Avliite settlements in the far-off valley of the Connecticut. In the 
mean Avhile the little array of Avhite people penetrated the country of the Narra- 
gansetts,^ and extorted a treaty of friendship from Canonchet,^ chief sachem of 



' In 1671, Philip and his tribe being susprctod of secretly plotting the destruction of the En- 
glish, were deprived of their fire-arms. He never forgot the injury, and long meditated revenge. 

= Page 22. =■ Page 22. 

* Son of Miantonomoh, whose residoiico was upon a hill a little north of the city of Newport. 
K. I. That hill still bears the name of Miantono'.noh, abbreviated to -'Tonomy ili!!.' Page 91. 



120 ' THE COLONIES. [1G20. 

that powerful tribe. Hearing of this, Philip was dismayed for a moment. But 
there was no hope for him, except in energetic action, and he and his followers 
aroused other tribes, to a war of extermination, by the secret and efficient 
methods of treachery, ambush, and surprise. Men in the fields, families in 
their beds at midnight, and congregations in houses of worship, were attacked 
and massacred. The Indians hung like the s'cythe of death upon the borders 
of the English settlements, and for several months a gloomy apprehension of the 
extermination of the whole European population in New England, prevailed.' 

Dreadful Avere the scenes in the path of the Wampimoag chief. From 
Springfield northward to the present Vermont line, the valley of the Connecti- 
cut was a theater of confusion, desolation, and death, wherever white settle- 
ments existed. Almost the whole of a party of twenty Englishmen'' sent to 
treat with the Nipmucs, were treacherously slain by the savages in ambush 
[Aug. 12, 1G75], near Quaboag, now Brookfield. That place was set on fire, 
when a sliower of rain put out the flames, and the Indians were driven away by 
a relief party of white people.^ The village was partially saved, but imme- 
diately abandoned. Soon afterward a hot battle w\as fought near Deerfield^ 
[Sept 5], and a week later [Sept. 12] that settlement also was laid in ashes. 
On the same day (it was the Saljbath), Iladley, further down the river, was 
attacked while the people were worshiping In the midst of the alarm and con- 
fusion, a tall and venerable-looking man, with white, flowing hair and beard, 
suddenly appeared, and brandishing a glittering sword, he placed himself at the 
head of the affrighted people, and led them to a charge which dispersed and 
defeated the foe. He as suddenly disappeared, and the inhabitants believed 
that an angel from heaven had been sent to their rescue. It Vv'as Goffe, the 
fugitive English judge,^ who was then concealed in that settlement. 

The scourge, stayed for a moment at Hadley, swept mercilessly over other 
settlements. On the 23d of September, the paths of Northfield were wet with 
the blood of many valiant young men under Captain Beers ; and on the 28th, 
" a company of young men, the very flower of Essex," under Captain Lathrop, 
were butchered by almost a thousand Indians on the banks of a little stream 
near Deerfield, which still bears the name of Bloody Brook. Others, who 
came to their rescue-, were engaged many hours in combat with the Indians 
until crowned with victory. Yet the Indians still prevailed. Philip, en- 
couraged by success, now resolved to attack Hatfield, the chief settlement of the 



' The white population in New England, at this time, has been estimated at fifly-five thousand. 
Haverhill, on the Merrimac, was the frontier town in the direction of Mame; and Northfield, on the 
Ijorders of Vermont, was the highest settlement in the Connecticut valley. "Westfield, one hundred 
mOes west of Boston, was the most remote settlement in tliat direction. 

^ Captains Wheeler and Hutchinson were sent from Boston to endeavor to reclaim the Nipmucs. 
Apprised of their coming, the Indians lay in ambush, and fired upon them from the deep thickets 
of a swamp. 

^ Under Major Willard. Tlie Indians set fire to every house except a strong one into which 
the people had secxired themselves, and were besieged there t\\'0 days. The Indians set fire to this 
last refuge, when rain extinguished the flames. 

* Between 180 white people and 700 Indians. [See, also, page 135.] ' Page 123. 



1755.] MASSACHUSETTS. 127 

white people above Springfield. The Springfield Indians joined him,' and Avith 
almost a thousand warriors, he fell upon the settlement, on the 29th of Octo- 
ber, 1675. The English were prepared for his reception, and he was repulsed 
Avith such loss, that, gathering his I)roken forces on the eastern bank of the 
Connecticut,^ he marched toward Rhode Island. The Narragansetts, in viola- 
tion of the recent treaty,^ received him, became his allies, and went out upon 
the war path late in autumn. A terrible, retributive blow soon fell upon the 
savages, when fifteen hundred men of Massachusetts, Plymouth, and Connecti- 
cut, marched to punish Ca«ionchet and his tribe, for their perfidy. The snows 
of early winter had fallen, and at least three thousand Indians had collected in 
their chief fort in an immense swamp,'' where they Avero supplied Avith provi- 
sions for the winter. It was a stormy day in December [Dec. 29], Avhen the 
English stood before the feeble palissades of the saA^ages. These offered but 
little opposition to the besiegers ; and Avithin a feAV hours, five hundred wig- 
Avams, with the winter provisions, Avere in flames. Hundreds of men, women, 
and children, perished in the fire. A thousand warriors Avere slain or wounded, 
and several hundreds Avere made prisoners. The English lost eighty killed, 
and one hundred and fifty wounded. Canonchet Avas made prisoner, and slain ; 
but Philip escaped, and AAuth the remnant of the Narragansetts, he took refuge 
again Avith the Nipmucs. 

The fugitiA^e Wampanoag Avas busy during the winter. He vainly solicited 
the MohaAvks' to join him, but he Avas seconded by the tribes eastAvard of Mas- 
sachusetts,^ who also had wrongs to redress. The w^ork of desolation began 
early in the spring of 1676, and Avithin a few weeks the Avar extended over a 
space of almost three hundred miles. Weymouth, Gro ton, Medfield, Lancas- 
ter, and Marlborough, in Massachusetts, Avere laid in ashes; WarAA'ick and 
Providence, in Rhode Island, AA'ere burned ; and everywhere, the isolated dAvell- 
ings of settlers were laid waste. But internal feuds Aveakened the poAver of the 
savages ; and both the Nipmucs^ and the Narragansetts^ charged their misfor- 
tunes to the ambition of Philip. The cords of alliance were severed. Some 
surrendered to avoid starvation ; other tribes wandered off and joined those in 
Canada ;^ while Captain Benjamin Church," the most famous of the partisan 




' They had been friendly until now. They plotted the entire 
destruction of the Sprinjrfleld settlement; but the people defended 
themselves bravely within their palisaded houses. Many of the 
strong houses of frontier settlements were thus fortified. Trunl<s 
of trees, eight or ten inches in diameter, were cut in uniform lengths, 
and stuck in the ground close together. The upper ends wev- 
sharpened, and the whole Avero fastened together with green withes 
or other contrivances. 

^ Page 82. 3 Page 125. pvlisali,!^ bLii.mxG.s. 

* This swamp is a small distance south-west of the village of Kingston, in "Washington County, 
Rhode Islan'L The fort was on an island which contains about five acres of tillable land, in the 
north-west part of the swamp. The Stoningtou and Providence railway passes along the northern 
verge of the swamp. ^ Page 23. 

" Page 22. The tribes of Maine were then about four thousand strong- 

' Page 22. « Page 22. • Page 22. 

" Benjamin Church was born at Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1639. lie continued hostilities 
against the eastern Indians until 1704. lie fell from his horse, and died soon afterward, at Little 
Compton, Jan. 17, 1718, aged 77 years. 



128 



THE COLONIES. 



[1G20. 



officers of the English colonies, went out to hunt and to destroy the fugitives. 
During the year, between two and three thousand Indians were slain or had 
submitted. Philip was chased from one hiding-place to another, but for a long 
time he would not yield. He once cleft the head of a warrior who proposed 
submission. But at length, the " last of the Wampanoags" bowed to the press- 
ure of circumstances. lie returned to the land of his fathers' [August, 1676], 
and soon his wife and son were made prisoners. This calamity crushed him, 
and he said, " Now my heart breaks ; I am ready to die."' A few days after- 




ward, a faithless Indian shot him, and Captain Church cut off the dead sachem's 
liead.^ His body was quartered ; and his little son was sold to be a bond-slave 
in Bermuda.^ So perished the last of the princes of the Wampanoags, and 
thus ended, in the total destruction of the power of the New England Indians, 
the famous KiNG Philip's War.* 

The terrible menaces of the Indian Avar, and the hourly alarm Avliieh it 
occasioned, did not make the English settlers mimindful of their political posi- 



' Note 4. page 124. 

^ The rude sword, made by a blacksmith of the colony, with wliich Captain Church cut off 
Philip's liead, is in tlie possession of tlie Massachusetts Historical Societj^ 

^ Tlie disposal of the boy was a subject of serious deliberation. Some of the elders proposed 
putting- him to death; others, professing more mercy, suggested selling him as a slave. Tlie most 
profitable measure appeared the most merciful and the child was sold into bondage. The head of 
rhilip was carried in triumph to Plymouth, and placed upon a polo 

^ The result of this war was vastly beneficial to the colonists, for the fear of savages, whicli 
prevented a rapid spread of settlements, was removed. From this period may be dated the real, 
unimpeded growth of New England. 



1755.] MASSACHUSETTS. 129 

tion, nor hopeless respecting the future. While the Massachusetts colony was 
yet weak in resources, from the eflfects of the war/ and the people were yet 
engaged in hostilities with the eastern tribes,^ it made territorial accessions hj 
purchase, and at the same time boldly asserted its chartered rights. For many 
years there hiid been a controversy between the heirs of Sir F. Gorges^ and 
John ]\Iason, and the Massachusetts colony, concerning a portion of the present 
territory of Maine and Ncav Hampshire, which, by acts of the inhabitants, had 
been placed [1641 and 1652] under the jurisdiction of the authorities at Bos- 
ton.^ The judicial decision [1677] was in favor of the heirs, and Massachu- 
setts immediately purchased [May 1, 1677] their interest for six thousand dol- 
lars.^ New Hampshire was detached three years afterward [1680], and made 
a royal province — the first in New England ; but Maine, which was incorpo- 
rated with Massachusetts in 1692, continued a part of that commonwealth until 
1820. 

Now rapidly budded that governmental tyranny which finally drove all the 
American colonies into open rebellion. The profligate king continued to draw 
the lines of absolute rule closer and closer in England, and he both feared and 
hated the growing republics in America, especially those in the East. They 
were ostensibly loyal portions of his realm, but were really independent sover- 
eignties, continually reacting upon the mother country, to the damage of the 
" divine i'io;ht" of kino;s. Charles had lono; cherished a desire to take their 
governments into his own hands, and he employed the occasion of the rejection 
of Edward Randolph (a custom-house ofiicer, Avho had been sent to Boston 
[1679] to collect the revenues, and otherwise to exercise authority''), to declare 
the Massachusetts charter void. He issued a quo warranto in 1683,^ and pro- 
cured a decision in his favor in the High Court of Chancery, on the 28th of 
June, 1684, but he died on the 26th of February following, before his object 
was effected. 

Charles's successor, James the Second,^ continued the oppressive measures 
of his brother toward the New England colonies. The people petitioned and 
remonstrated, and were treated with contempt. Their hardships in conquering 
a wilderness, and their devotion to the English constitution, had no weight 
with the royal bigot. ^ He also declared the charter of Massachusetts forfeited, 
and appointed Joseph Dudley president of the country from Rhode Island to 
Nova Scotia. Sir Edmund Andros arrived at Boston soon afterward [Dec. 

' During the war, New England lost sb: hundred men; a dozen towns were destroyed; six 
hundred dwcllrngs were buj-ned ; every twentieth family was houseless; and every twentieth man, 
who had served as a soldier, had perished. The cost of the war equaled live hundred thousand 
dollars — a very large sum at that time. 

* Page 22." = Page 79. " Pago 80, and note 2, page 80. 

' The portion of Maine then purchased, was the tract between the Piscataqua and the Kenne- 
bec. That between the Kennebec and the Penobscot belonged to the Duke of York, and the terri- 
tory between the Penobscot and the St. Croix, was held by tlie French, pursuant to a treaty. 

" Randolph appears to have been a greedy adventurer, and was, consequently, a faithful servant 
of his royal master in oppressing the colonists. He exaggerated tiro number and resources of the 
people of New England, and thus excited the king's fears and cupidity. Previous to Randolph's 
appoiutment, the colonies had dispatched agents to England, to settle impending difficulties ami- 
cably. They faded, and Randolph came in the same vessel in which they returned. 

' Note 3, page 107. " Page 113. » Note 7, page 113. 

9 



j^30 THE COLONIES. [1620. 

oO, 168G], clothed with authority to govern all New England. He came with 
a smiling face, and deceitful lips. He appears to have been a tyrant by nature, 
and came to execute a despot's will. He soon made bare the rod of oppression, 
and began to rule with a tyrant's rigor.' The people were about to practice 
the doctrine that '■'resistance to tyrants is obedience to God^''''' when intelli- 
gence reached Boston [April 14, 1689], that James was driven from the 
throne [1688] and was succeeded 1)y William and Mary, of Orange^* The 
inhabitants of Boston seized and imprisoned Andros and fifty of his political 
associates [April 28, 1689], sent them to England under a just charge of mal- 
administration of public affairs, and re-established their constitutional govern- 
ment. Again republicanism was triumphant in Massachusetts. 

The effects of the revolution in England were also sorrowful to the Amer- 
ican colonies. That revolution became a cause of war between England and 
France. James (who was a Roman Catholic) iied to the court of Louis the 
Fourteenth, king of France, and that monarch espoused the cause of the fugi- 
tive. Hostihties between the two nations commenced the same year, and the 
(juarrel extended to their respective colonies in America. The conflict then 
commenced, and which was continued more than seven years, is known in his- 
tory as 

KING WILLIAM'S WAR. 

The colonists suffered terribly in that contest. The French Jesuits,^ who 
had acquired great influence over the eastern tribes,^ easily excited them to 
renew their fierce warfare w ith the English. They also made the^ savages their 
allies ; and all along the frontier settlements, the pathway of murder and des- 
olation was seen. Dover, a frontier town, was first attacked by a party of 
French and Indians, on the 7th of July, 1689, when the venerable Major 
Waldron'^ and twenty others of the little garrison were killed. Twenty-nine 
of the inhabitants were made captive, and sold as servants to the French in 
Canada. In August following, an Indian war party, instigated by Thury, a 
Jesuit, fell [August 12] upon an English stockade^ at Pemaquid (built by 
Andros), and captured the garrison. A few months later, Frontenac sent a 

' Among other arbitrary acts, Andros laid restraints upon the freedom of the press, and mar- 
riage contracts; and, to use a modern term, he "levied black mail;" that is, extorted money, by 
menaces, whenever opportunity olTered. He advanced the fees of all officers of the government to 
;m exorbitant degree ; and finally threatened to make the Church of England the estabUshed relig- 
ion in all America 

"^ This was Cromwell's motto ; and Thomas Jefferson had it engraved upon his private seal. 

^ Note 7, page 113. 

* This was a Roman Catholic religious order, founded by Ignatius Loyola, a Spaniard, in 1539. 
They have ever been remarkable for their great devotion to their cause, then- self-denial, and mas- 
terly sagacity in the acquirement and maintenance of power. Their missionaries preached Chris- 
tianity in every part of the habitable globe. They came with the first French adventurers to Amer- 
ica, and under their influence, whole tribes of Indians eastward of Massachusetts and in Canada were 
made nominal Christians. This was one of the ties which made the savages such faithful allies to 
the French in the contests between them and the English, previous to 1763. ' Page 22. 

° Waldron Avas eighty years of age. He had played filse with the New Hampshire Indians 
during King Philip's war, and they now sought revenge. They tortured him to death. 

' Note 2. page 183, 



1755.] MASSACHUSETTS. 131 

party of three hundred French and Indians from Montreal, to penetrate the 
country toward Albany. On a gloomy night in winter, when the snow was 
twenty inches in depth, they fell upon Schenectada [Fel). 18, 1690], a frontier 
town on the Mohawk, massacred many of the people, and burnt the village. 
Early in the spring, Salmon Falls [March 28], Casco [May 27 J, and other 
eastern villages, were attacked by another party of the same mongrel foe, the 
natural ferocity of the Indians being quickened l)y the teachings of the Jesuits 
concerning the proper fate of heretics.' 

All the colonies were aroused, by these atrocities, to a sense of their danger 
in having such foes intent upon their destruction ; and the New England people 
resolved on speedy retaliation. In May, Massachusetts fitted out an expedi- 
tion, under Sir William Phipps, a native of Pemaquid, consisting of eight or 
nine vessels, wdtli about eight hundred men. Phipps seized Port Royal,- in 
Acadie, and obtained sufficient plunder from the inhabitants to pay the expenses 
of the expedition. In June, Port Royal was again plundered by English pri- 
vateers from the West Indies. Encouraged by these successes, the colonies of 
New England and New York coalesced in eiforts to conquer Canada.^ It was 
arranged to send a land expedition from New York, by way of Lake Cham- 
plain, against Montreal,^ and a naval expedition against Quebec.^ The com- 
mand of the former Avas intrusted to the son of Governor Winthrop of Connect- 
icut,^ and the expenses were borne jointly by that colony and New York.' Sir 
William Phipps commanded the latter, which Massachusetts alone fitted out. 
It consisted of thirty-four vessels, with two thousand men. Both were unsuc- 
cessful. Some of Winthrop's troops, with Indians of the Five Nations,® under 
Colonel Schuyler, pushed toward the St. Lawrence, and were repulsed [Aug., 
1690] by Frontenac, the governor of Canada. The remainder did not go be- 
yond Wood Creek (now Whitehall), at the head of Lake Champlain, and all 
returned to Albany.^ Phipps reached Quebec about the middle of October, 
and landed the troops ; but the city was too strongly fortified'" to promise a 
successful siege, and he returned to Boston before the winter set in." Massa- 

' In these massacres, instigated by the Jesuits, we may find a reason for the seeming intoler- 
ance of the Protestant majority in Mar3'land [page 152], the disabihties of Roman Catholics in 
Virginia, New York, and New England, and their exclusion fi'om the privileges of freemen in tol- 
erant Rhode Island. The most potent operations of the Jesuits were in secret, and the colonists 
were compelled to regard every Roman Catholic as the natural enemy of Protestants, and as labor- 
ing to destroy every measure tending to human freedom. 

^ Page 58. ^ Page 204. ■■ Page 48. 

' Page 48. " Page 86. 

' Milborne, son-in-law of Jacob Leisler, the democratic governor of New York [page 148], un- 
dertook to provide subsistence for the armv, which marched from Albany early in July. 

" Page 23. 

* Leisler was so much incensed at this failure, that he caused the arrest of Winthrop, at Albany. 
There had ever been a jealous rivalry l.ietween the people of New York and Connecticut ; and the 
feud which continually prevailed among the mixed troops, was the chief cause of the miscarriage of 
the enterprise. 

'" Phipps, having no chart to guide him, was nine weeks cautiously making his way around 
Acadie and up the St. Lawrence. In the mean while, a swift Indian runner, from Pemaquid, sped 
across the country, and informed the French, at Quebec, of tlio approach of Phipps. in tune for 
them to well prepare for defense. 

" This repulse was considered so important by the French, that king Louis had a commemor- 
ative medal struck, with the legend — " France Victorious ik the New World." 



232 THE COLONIES. [1620'. 

chusetts was obliged to issue bills of credit, or paper money, to defray the 
expenses of this expedition.' 

Sir William Phij)ps was sent to England soon after his return, to solicit aid 
in further warftire upon the French and Indians, and also to assist in efforts to 
procure a restoration of the charter of INIassachusetts, taken away by King 
James.' Material assistance in prosecuting the war was refused ; and King 
William instead of restoring the old charter, granted a new one, and united 
under it the colonies of Plymouth, INIassachusetts, Maine, and Nova Scotia,' by 
the old name of Massachusetts Bay Colony, and made it a royal province. 
Phipps was appointed governor by the king, and returned to Boston with the 
charter, in INIay, 1692. But the new constitution was offensive to the people, 
for they were allowed scarcely any other political privileges than they already 
possessed, except the right to choose representatives. The king reserved the 
right to appoint the governor, his deputy, and the secretary of the colony, and 
of repealing the laws within three years after their passage, j This abridgment 
of their liberties produced general dissatisfaction, and alienated the affections of 
the people from the mother country. It was one of a series of fatal steps taken 
by the English government, which tended toward the final dismemberment of 
the empire in 1770. •* Yet one good resulted from the change. The theocratic 
or relio-ious clement in the government, which fostered bigotry and intolerance, 
lost its power, for toleration was guarantied to all Christian sects, except Roman 
Catholics ; and the right of suffrage was extended to others than members of 
Congregational churches. ^ 

A very strange episode in the history of Massachusetts now occurred. A 
belief in witchcraft' destroyed the peace of society in many communities, and 
shrouded the whole colony in a cloud of gloom. This belief had a strong hold 
upon the miiuls of the people of old England, and of their brethren in America. 
Excitement upon the subject suddenly broke out at Danvers (then a part of 
Salem), in March, 1692, and spread like an epidemic. A niece and daughter 
of the parish minister exhibited strange conduct ; and under the influence of 
their own superstitious belief, they accused an old Indian servant-woman in the 
family of bewitching them. Fasting and prayer, to break the "spell," were 
of no avail, for the malady increased. The alarm of the family spread to the 



^ Note 4, page 122. The total amount of the issue was i^l33,338. * Page 129. 

^ New Scotland, the name given to the country which the French called Acadie. See note 2, 
page SO. ' ^ Page 251. ^ Note 5, page 118.. 

" A belief in witchcraft, or the exercise of supernatural power, by men and women, has been 
prevalent for ap'es. Punishment of persons accused of it, was first sanctioned by the Church of Rome 
a little more than three hundred years ago. Certain tests were instituted, and tliousands of innocent 
persons were burned alive, drowiied, or hanged, in Europe. Within three mouths, in 1515, five hun- 
dred persons were burned in Geneva, in Switzerland. In the diocese of Como, one thousand were 
burned in one vear. In 1520, an incredible number, from among all classes, suffered death in 
France. And within fifty or sixty years, during the sixteenth century, more than one hundred 
thousand persons perished in the flames in Germany alone. Henry the Eiglitli of England made 
the practice of witchcraft a capital offense; and a hundred years later, '• witch-detectors" traversed 
the country, and brought many to the stake. Enliglitened men embraced the belief; and even Sir 
Matthew Hale, the most distingui«hed of England's judges, repeatedly tried and condemned persons 
accused of witchcraft. The P'nglish laws against witchcraft were adopted in Ne\\- England ; and a,; 
early as 164:8, four persons had suffered death for the alleged offense, in the vicinity of Boston. 



J.755.] 



MASSACHUSETTS. 



133 



community ; and soon a belief prevailed throughout the colony, that evil spirits, 
having ministering servants among men, overshadowtnl the land. Old and ill- 
favored women were first accused of practising the art of witchcraft ; but at 
length neither age, sex, nor condition afforded protection from the accuser's 
tongue. Even the lady of Governor Phipps did not escape suspicion. Magis- 
trates were condemned, many pious persons were imprisoned, and Mr. Bur- 
roughs, a worthy minister, was executed. Men of strong minds and scholarly 
attainments were thoroughly deluded. Among these was the eminent Cotton 
Mather, whose father before him had yielded to the superstition, and published 




C-OttCm lTlou^4rJtY. 



an account of all the supposed cases of witchcraft in New England. Cotton 
Mather, on account of his position as a leading divine, and his talents, prob- 
ably did more than any other man to promote the spread of that fearful delusion, 
which prevailed for more than six months. During that time, twenty persons 
suffered death, fifty-five were tortured or frightened into a confession of witch- 
craft, and when a special court, or legislature, was convened in October, 1692, 
one hundred and fifty accused persons were in prison. A reaction, almost as 
sudden as the beginning of the excitement, now took place in the public mind. 
The prison doors were opened to the accused, and soon many of the accusers 
shrunk abashed from the public gaze.* Standing in the light of the present 
century, we look back to " Salem witchcraft," as it is called, with amazement. 

' The belief in witchcraft did not cease with the strange excitement ; and Cotton Mather and 
other popular men, wrote m its defense. Calef; a citizen of Boston, exposed Mather's credulity, 
which greatly irritated the minister. Ho first called his opponent "a weaver turned minister;'' 
but as his tormentors blows fell thick and fast, in a series of letters, Mather called hun " a coal from 



134 THE COLONIES. [1C20. 

"King William's Avar"' continued until 1697, when a treaty of peace, 
made at Ryswick, in the Avest of Holland, on the 20th of September of that 
year, terminated hostilities.' Up to that time, and later, the New England 
people suffered greatly from their mongrel foe. Remote settlements in the 
direction of Canada and Nova Scotia continued to be harassed. Almost a hun- 
dred persons Avere killed or made captive [July 28, 1694] at Oyster River 
(now Durham), ten miles from Portsmouth, in New Hampshire. Two years 
later [July 25, 1696], Baron St. Castine, and a large force of French and 
Indians, captured the garrison at Pemaquid, and exchanged the prisoners for 
French soldiers in the hands of the English.^ In March, 1697, Haverhill, 
thirty miles from Boston, was attacked, and forty persons Avere killed or carried 
into captivity ;* and during the folloAving summer, more remote settlers were 
great sufferers. A respite now came. The treaty at Ryswick produced a lull 
in the storm of cruel warfare, Avhich had so long hung upon the English fi'on- 
tiers, continually menacing the colonists Avith Avide-spread destruction.^ It was 
very brief, however, for pretexts for another war Avere not long wanting, 
James the Second died in September, 1701, and Louis the Fourteenth, Avho 
had sheltered the exile," acknoAvledged his son, Charles Edward (commonly 
knoAvn as the Pretender), to be the lawful heir to the English throne. This 
offended the English, because the crown had been settled upon Anne, second 
daughter of James, Avho was a Protestant. Louis had also offended the Encrlish, 
by placing his grandson, Philip of Anjou, upon the throne of Spain, and thus 

hell," and pro.secuted him for slander. The credulous clergyman was glad to withdraw the suit. 
Cotton Mather was born in Boston, in February, 1G33, and was educated at Harvard College. Ho 
was very expert in the acquirement of knowledge, and at the age of nineteen years, he received 
the degree of Master of Arts. He became a gospel minister at twenty-two, and holding a ready 
pen, he -wrote much. Few of his writings have survived him. With all his le^irning, he was but a 
child in that which constitutes true manhood, and he is now regarded more as a pedant 
than as a scholar. He died in February, 1728. For the benefit of young men, we will 
liere introduce an anecdote connected with him. It was thus related by Dr. Franklin, to Samuel, a 
son of Cotton Mather: "The last time I saw your father was in the beginning of 1724, when I 
visited him after my first trip to Pennsylvania. He received me in his librarj- ; and on my taking 
leave, showed me a shorter Avay out of the house through a narrow jjassage, which was crossed by 
a beam overhead. We were still talking as I withdrew, he accompanying me behind, and I turn- 
ing partly toward him, wlien he said hastily, 'Stoop! stoop!' I did not understand until I felt my 
head hit against the beam. He was a man that never missed an occasion of giving instruction, 
and upon this he said to me, ' You are young, and have the world before you ; stoop as you go 
through, and you will escape many hard thumps.' This advice, thus beat into m}' head, has fre- 
quentl_y been of use to me; and I often think of it when I see pride mortified, and misfortunes 
brought upon people by carrying tlieir heads too high." ^ Page 130. 

^ Tills war cost England one hundred and fift}' mOlions of dollars, in cash, besides a loan of one 
hundred millions more. This loan was the commencement of the enormous national debt of En- 
gland, now [1856] amounting to about four tliousand millions of dollars. 

^ They also took the Englisli fort of St. John's, Newfoundland, and several other posts on that 
island. 

* Among their captives was a Mrs. Dustan, her child, and nurse. Her infant was soon killed, 
and she and her nurse were taken to Cana^la. A little more than a month afterward, Mrs. D., her 
companion, and another prisoner, killed ten of twelve sleeping Indians, who had them in custody, 
and made their way back to Haverhill. 

^ Just before the conclusion of this treaty, a Board of Trade and Plardaiions was established by 
the English government, whose duty it was to have a general oversight of the American colonies. 
This was a permanent commission, consisting of a president and seven members, called Lords of 
Trade. This commission was always an instrument of oppression in the hands of royalty, and, aa 
will be seen, was a powerful promoter of that discontent which led to the rebellion of the colonies 
in 1775. ^ Page 130. 



1755.] MASSACHUSETTS. 135 

extended the influence of France among the dynasties of Europe. These, and 
some minor causes, impelled England again to declare war against France.' 
Hostilities commenced in 1702, and continued until a treaty of peace was con- 
cluded at Utrecht, in Holland, on the 11th of April, 1713. As usual, the 
French and English in America were involved in this war ; and the latter suf- 
fered much from the cruelties of the Indians who were under the influence of 
the former. This is known in America as 

QUEEN ANNE'S WAR. 

It was a fortunate circumstance for the people of New York that the Fiyk 
Nations had made a treaty of neutrality with the French in Canada [Aug. 4, 
1701 J, and thus became an impassable barrier against the savage hordes from 
the St. Lawrence. The tribes from the Merrimac to the Penobscot had made 
a treaty of peace with New England, in July, 1703, but the French induced 
them to violate it ; and before the close of summer, the hatchet fell upon the 
people of the whole frontier from Casco to Wells. Blood flowed in almost 
every valley; and early the next spring [March, 1704], a 
large party of French and Indians, under Major Hertel de 
Rouville, attacked Deerfield, on the Connecticut River, 
applied the torch, '^ killed forty of the inhabitants, and car- 
ried one hundred and twelve aNvay to the wilderness. 
Among these was Rev. John Williams, the minister, whose 
little daughter, after a long residence Avith the Indians, ^jllj ^jig-g house. 
became attached to them, and married a Mohawk chief.^ 
Similar scenes occurred at intervals during the whole progress of the war. 
Remote settlements were abandoned, and the people on the frontier collected in 
fortified houses,* and cultivated their fields in armed parties of half a dozen or 
more. This state of things became insupportable to the English colonists, and 
in the spring of 1707, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire, 
determined to chastise the French on their eastern borders. Connecticut 
refused to join in the enterprise, and the three colonies alone prepared an arma- 
ment. Early in June, a thousand men under Colonel Marsh, sailed from Nan- 
tucket for Port Royal,' in Acadie, convoyed by an English man-of-war. The 
French were prepared for them, and nothing was effected except the destruction 
of considerable property outside the fort. Three years later, an armament left 




' It is known in European history as the War of the Spanish Siiccession. 

' The only house that escaped the flames was that of the Rev. Jolin Williams, represented in 
the engraving. It stood near the centre of the village, until within a few years. 

^ Mrs. Williams and other captives, who were unable to travel a,s rapidly as the Indians, wer(> 
murdered. On his arrival in Canada, Mr. Williams was treated M'ith respect by the French, and 
alter two years of captivity, was ransomed, and returned to Massachusetts. The chief object of th.' 
expedition to Deerfield, appears to have been to carry off the bell that hung in Williams's church. 
That bell was purchased the year previous for the c-hureh of Saut St. Louis, at Caughnawaga, near 
Montreal. The vessel in which it was lirought from Havre was captured by a New England pri- 
vateer, and the bell was purcha.'^ed for the Deerfield meeting-house. Father Nicolas, of the church 
at Gaughnawagix, accompanied the expedition, and the bell was carried in trumiph to its original 
destination, where it still remains. * Note ], page 127. ^ Page 58. 



136 THE COLONIES. [1620. 

Boston [September, 1710], and, in connection with a fleet from England, under 
Colonel Nicholson, demanded and obtained a surrender of the fort and garrison 
[Oct. 13], at Port Royal. The name of the place was then changed to Anna- 
polis, in honor of the Queen, Anne, and Acadie was annexed to the English 
realm under the title of Nova Scotia, or New Scotland. 

In July, the following year [1711], Sir Hovendon Walker arrived at Bos- 
ton, with an English fleet and army, designed for the conquest of Canada. 
New England promptly raised additional forces, and on the 10th of August, 
fifteen men-of-war and forty transports, bearing almost seven thousand troops, 
departed for the St. Lawrence to attack Quebec. Walker, like Braddock,'^ 
haughtily refused to listen to experienced subordinates, and lost eight of his 
ships, and almost a thousand men, on the rocks at the mouth of the river, on 
the night of the 2d of September. Disheartened by this calamity, Walker 
returned to England with the remainder of his fleet, and the colonial troops 
went back to Boston. On hearing of this failure of the naval expedition, a 
body of troops marching from Albany to attack Montreal, retraced their steps.* 
Hostilities were now suspended, and in the spring of 1713, a treaty of peace 
was concluded [April 11] at Utrecht. The eastern Indians sent a flag to Bos- 
ton, and sued for peace ; and at Portsmouth the Governor of Massachusetts and 
New Hampshire entered into a pacific compact [July 24] with the chiefs of the 
tribes. 

A long peace now ensued, and for thirty years succeeding the close of 
Queen Annes War, the colonists enjoyed comparative repose. Then, again, 
the selfish strifes of European monarchs awakened the demon of discord, and its 
bloody footsteps were soon apparent along the northern frontiers of the English 
colonies in America. The interim had been a period of much political agitation 
in Massachusetts, during which a great stimulus had been given to the growth 
of republican principles. Disputes, sometimes violent, and sometimes in a con- 
ciliatory spirit, had been carried on between the royal governors and the repre- 
sentatives of the people ; the former contending for prerogatives and salaries 
which the people deemed inadmissible.* These internal disputes were arrested 
when they heard that France had declared hostility to England [March 15, 
1744]. and the colonists cheerfully prepared to commence the contest known in 

America as 

KING GEORGE'S WAR.* 

This war was not productive of many stirring events in America. The 
principal and very important one was the capture of the strong fortress of 

' King William had no cliildren ; and Anne, the daughter of James the Second (who was mar- 
ried to Prince George of Denmark), succeeded him as sovereign of England in 1702. ^ Page 186. 

^ These were four thousand in number, under the command of General Nicholson. They were 
furnished by New York and Connecticut. 

* The chief topic of controversy was the payment of salaries. Governors Shute, Burnet and 
Belcher, all contended for a permanent salary, but the people claimed the right to vote such salary, 
each year, as the services of the governor appeared justly ^to demand. A compromise was finally 
effected by an agreement to vote a certain sum each year. The subject of salaries was a cause of 
contention with the royal governors, until the Revolution. 

* The husband of Queen Anne died several years previous to her death, which occurred in 
August, 170-4. George, Elector of Hanover, in Germany, was immediately proclaimed King of 



1755.] 



MASSACHUSETTS. 



137 



Louisburg, on the island of Cape Breton. It had been constructed bj the 
French after the treaty of Utrecht, at an expense of five and a half millions of 
dollars, and because of its strength, was called The Gibraltar of America. 
William Shirley,' a soldier and energetic statesman, wiis Governor of Massa- 
chusetts when hostilities were proclaimed. He immediately perceived the 
importance of Louisburg in the coming contest, and plans for its capture were 
speedily perfected by the Legislature of Massachusetts." Rhode Island, New 
Hampshire, and Connecticut furnished their proper quota of troops. New 
York sent artillery, and Pennsylvania provisions. Thus common danger was 
extending the idea of a necessity for a union of the Anglo-American colonies, 
long before it assumed a practical form in 1754.^ 

After vainly waiting for some time in the expectation 
of aid from Commodore Warren (then in the W^est In- 
dies), the colonial forces, thirty-two hundred strong, 
under the general command of William 
Pepperell," sailed [April 4, 1745J for 
Louisburg.* At Canseau they were un- 
expectedly joined by the fleet of Warren 
[May 9], and on the 11th of May the 
combined forces, four thousand 
strong, landed at Gabarus Bay, 
a short distance from their des- 
tination. The sudden appear- 
ance of this formidable arm- 
ament, was the first intimation ^^^^^^ of LOuisBURa m 1745. 
to the French, that an attack 
was meditated, and great consternation prevailed in the fortress and town. A 




England, by the title of George the First. His son George succeeded him in 1727, and also 
retained the title and privileges of Elector of Hanover. A contest arose between Maria Theresa, 
Empress of Austria, and tlie Elector of Bavaria, for the throne of Austria. The King of Enghmd 
espoused the cause of the empress, in 1743, and the King of France took part with her opponent. 
This led France to declare war against England — a contest known in America as Kiivj Gewije's 
War, but in Europe, the War of the Austrian Succession. 

^ William Shirley was born in England; made governor of Massachusetts in 1741; was after- 
ward made governor of one of the Bahama Islands, and died at Roxbury, near Boston, in 1771. 
He appears conspicuous in history during a portion of the contest known in America as Tlie French 
and Indian War. 

* Shirley proposed an expedition, but the Legislature hesitated. The measure was finally 
agreed upon by a majority of only one vote. ' Pago 18.3. 

* Pepperell was a native of Maine, and a wealthy merchant. Ho was afterward made a bar- 
onet. He died in 1759. 

* Louisburg is on the east side of the island of Cape Breton, with a fine, deep harbor. The land- 
ing-place of the British, position of the camp, etc., will be seen by reference to the map. T\\q Royal 
]iatfi:nj was taken by four hundred men. When they approached, the French thought the whole 
English army was upon them. They immediately spiked their guns (that is, drove iron spikes into 
the touch-holes of the cannons, so as to make them useless), and fled In the upper part of the map 
is a profile of the fortifications at Louisburg. It is given here so as to illustrate certain terms which 
may be used hereafter : a, the (ilarvi, is the extreme outside slope of the works ; b, the banquet, or 
step upon which the soldiers stand to fire over the parapet ; c, a covered way into the fort, under tlio 
banquet; d, counterscarp), a bank or wall, outside the ditch, e; f, the parapet, a protection for the men 
and guns from balls from without; ;/, the inner banquet; h, ramparts — the most solid embankment 
of the fortress ; i the last slope in the interior of the fort, called talus. 



138 THE COLONIES. [1620. 

direct approach was difficult on account of a morass, and a combined attack by 
sea and land was carefully arranged. The land forces encamped in a curve in 
rear of the town, and detachments secured the French outposts, one after an- 
other. Cannons were dragged on sledges over the morass, ' trenches were dug, 
batteries Avere erected, and a regular siege was commenced, on the 31st of May. 
In the mean while, Commodore Warren captured a French ship of seventy-four 
guns, and secured, as prisoners, over five hundred men, with a large quantity 
of military stores. While the siege was in progress, other English vessels of 
war arrived, and the fleet and army agreed to make a combined attack on the 
29th of June. Des})airing of successful resistance, the French surrendered the 
fortress, the city of Louisburg, and the island of Cape Breton, on the 28th of 
June, 1745."- 

The pride of France was greatly mortified by this daring and successful 
expedition, and the following year [1746] the Duke D'Anville was sent with a 
powerful naval armament' to recover the lost fortress, and to desolate the En- 
ghsh settlements along the seaboard. Storms wrecked many of his vessels, and 
disease soon wasted hundreds of his men ; and D'Anville, thoroughly dispirited, 
abandoned the enterprise without striking a blow.' Two years afterward a 
treaty of peace was concluded at Aix-la-Chapelle, in western Germany, when 
it was ar^reed that all prisoners should be released, and all acquisitions of prop- 
erty or territory, made by either party, were to be restored. Both of the 
principal parties Avere heavy losers by the contest ;5 while the strength of thj 
colonists, yet to be called forth in a more important struggle, was revealed ai.d 
noted. 

Old national animosities, religious difierences, and recent causes for irrita- 
tion, had inspired the English and French Avith intense mutual hatred, when 
the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle was signed on the 18th of October, 1748. The 
alleo-iance of TN'Iassachusetts and its sister colonies to the British crown, and the 
acknowled'T-ed duty of obedience, restrained the resentment of the American 
people, wdiile England and France were at peace. Soon, disputes about local 
boundaries began, ° and it Avas not long before preparations for war betAveen the 
two races, were visible in America. Then came that final bloody struggle be- 
tAveen the English and French, for dominion in the Noav World, knoAvn as the 
French and Indian War J This Ave shall consider hereafter. 



' The artillery was commanded by Richard Gridlcy, %vho was tlie engineer of the continental 
army at Boston in 1775 and 17 7 G. See page 234. 

^ The prizes and stores obtained by the English amounted, in value, to little less than five mil- 
lions of dollars. 

^ It consisted of forty ships of war, fifty-six transports, thirty-five hundred men, and forty thou- 
sand muskets for the use of the French and Indians in Canada. 

* D'Anville, with two or three vessels, anchored at Chebucto (now Halifax, Nova Scotia), where 
he died, it is believed, by poison. His lieutenant also committed suicide, in consequence of morti- 
fied pride. These disasters to the French fleet were regarded by the people of New England as spe- 
cial manifestations of Providence in their flwor. Pablic thanksgivings were offered; and no ono 
doubted the right of the English to the whole of Acadie. 

^ Parliament afterward reimbursed to the colonies the cost of their preparations against Canada, 
amounting to more than a million of dollars. See page 199. 

' Page 180. ' Page 179. 



1755.] NEW YORK. I39 

CHAPTER III. 

NEW YORK. [1G2 3.] 

The State of New York commenced its political career when Peter Minuit/ 
recently appointed Governor of New Netherlands arrived at New Amsterdtun 
(as the germ of the present city of New York was called), in ISIay, 1626. lie 
immediately purchased of the Indians, for about twenty-four dollars, the whole 
of the island of Manhattan,' on which the city of New York now stands, and 
began vigorously to perfect the founding of a State similar to those of Holland. 
He erected a strong fortification near the site of the present Battery^ and called 
it Fort Amsterdam.^ By conciliatory measures, he gained the confidence of 
the Indians ; and he also opened a friendly correspondence with the Puritans at 
Plymouth.^ The English reciprocated the friendly expressions of the Dutch ; 
at the same time, they requested the latter not to send their trappers quite as 
far eastward as Narraganset Bay, to catch otters and beavers.'' 

For the purpose of encouraging emigration to New Netherland, the Dutch 
West, India Company'' offered, in 1629, large tracts of land, and certain priv- 
ileges, to those persons who should lead or send a given number of emigrants 
to occupy and till the soil.^ Directors of the company' availed themselves of 
the privilege, and sent Wouter (Walter) Van Twiller to examine the country 
and select the lands. Immigrants came ; and then were laid the foundations 
of the most noted of the manorial estates of New York.'" The proprietors were 
called patroons (patrons), and held a high political and social station in the 
New World. 

The agent of the Patroons seems to have performed his duty well, and he 
was appointed governor of the colony, in 1633. The beginning of Van Twil- 
ler" s administration was marked by difficulties with the English on the Con- 

' Page 93. ' Pago 72. ^ Note ], page 48. * See picture on page 144. ^ Page 78. 

* Trade iu fur.s was the chief occupation of the Dutch of New Netlierlaiid at this time. They 
became expert trappers, and were seen as far east as Nantucket, and even Cape Cod. The trade 
soon became profitable to the Company. The first year's remittance of furs to Amsterdam was 
valued at .$11,000. This trade greatly increased; and "before the troubles with the Indians in 1C40, 
the value of furs sent to Holland, annually, was more than $60,000. ' Page 72. 

^ The land was to be flurly purchased of the Indians, and then the title was to be conlirmed by 
the Dutch government. The privileges granted to t'.io purcliasers made them, in a degree, feudal 
lords [note 15, page 62], yet they were exempted from paying trilnite to supremo authority. 

" Killian Van Rensselaer, who purchased a tract at Fort Orange (Albany) ; Samuel Godyn and 
Samuel Bloemart, who selected lands in West Jersey, on the Delaware ; and Michael Pauw, whose 
domain included Jersey City and vicinity. See page 94. 

" Van Rensselaer. Immense tracts of land in Albany and Rensselaer counties, portions of the 
first Patroon's estates, are yet [1856] in possession of the finiily. Since 1840, manj- scenes of vio- 
lence and l)loodshed have been witncsssd on those lands, growing out of disputes with tenants, 
when they have been called upon to pay even the almost nominal rent which is demanded. Social 
and political questions have arisen, and produced two strong parties. The defense of the tenantry is 
termed Anti-Rentism. Conciliatory measures have l)een pro{)oseil by a purchaser of a large portion 
of the ancient manor, in Albany county, bv which the tenants are allowed to buy tlit; land, and 
obtain a title in fee simple. In time, the whole estate will thus pass into the hands of uumeroua 
new owners, and these angry disputes will become items of pa:jt history. 



140 THE COLONIES. [1623. 

necticut River.* He was more distinguished for his marriage connection with 
Van Rensselaer, one of the Patroons, than for any administrative qualities. 
Yet circumstances favored the advancement of the colony, and he ruled quite 
satisfactorily, especially to the company, whose interests he faithfully served. 
He was succeeded in office, in May, 1638, by Sir William Keift, at the mo- 
ment when the Swedish colony^ were seating themselves upon the banks of the 
Delaware. Keift was a bold, rapacious, and unscrupulous man, and soon 
brought serious trouble upon the people. He . began a tyrannous rule by con- 
centrating executive power in his own hands ; and his administration was a 
stormy and unfortunate one. The sum of its record is a tale of continual strife 
with the Swedes on the Delaware,^ the English on the Connecticut, ■•■ the Indians 
all around him, and the colonists at his door. His difficulties with the Indians 
proved the most disastrous of all, and finally wrought his own downfall. Pre- 
vious to his arrival, the intercourse of the Dutch with the natives had been 
quite friendly.^ The fiir trade was extending, and trappers and traders were 
all abroad among the native tribes. These carried a demon of discord with 
them. They furnished the Indians with n/wi, and quarrels and murders en- 
sued. The avaricious Keift also demanded tribute of wampum"^ and beaver- 
skins from the River tribes ; and in a short time their friendship for the Dutch 
became weakened. 

A crisis came. Some Raritan'' Indians in New Jersey were accused of rob- 
bery. Keift sent an armed force to punish them [July, 1640], and blood 
flowed. Several Indians were killed, and their crops were destroyed. Savage 
vengeance did not slumber long. The Raritans murdered four planters on 
Staten Island [Juno, 1G41J, and destroyed considerable property.^ An expe- 
dition sent to punish the offenders was unsuccessful. Soon afterward, a young 
Westchester Indian, whose uncle had been murdered by a Hollander, near 
where the Halls of Justice now stand," revenged the murder, according to the 
customs of his people,'" by killing an inoffensive Dutchman living at Turtle 
Bay.'' His tribe refused to surrender him on the demand of Keift, and the 
governor determined to make war upon all the offending savages. 

The people of New Netherland had already begun to murmur at Keift's 
course, and they charged^ the troubles with the Indians directly upon him. Un- 
willing to assume the entire responsibility of a war, himself, the governor called 
a meeting [Aug. 23, 1641] of the heads of fiimilies in New Amsterdam for 
consultation. They promptly chose "twelve select men" [August 29j, with De 



* Page 85. ^ Pago 93. = Page 93. < Pa^e 85. 

^ The Dutch had made a settlement, and built a fort at Albany [page 12\ and made a'treaty of 
friendship with the Mohawks [page 23]. This the River Indians, in the vicinity of New Amster- 
dam, did not Hke, for the Mohawks were their oppressors. ^ Note 2, pao-e 13. 

' A tribe of the Lenni-Lenapes. Page 16. 

* This plantation belonged to De Tries [note 2, page 92], who was a friend of the Indians. 

^ On Center street, New York city. There was once a fresh-water pond there, surrounded by 
the forest. 

" The Indians had a custom concerning an avenger of blood, similar to that of the Jews. It was 
the duty and the privilege for the next of kin to the murdered man, to avenge his blood by killino- 
the murderer. The Indians took the life of any of the tribe of the ofiender. " 

" At the foot of Forty-fifth street, on the East Paver. 



1755.] NEW YORK. 141 

Vries' at their head, to act for them ; and this was tlie first representative 
assembly ever formed among Europeans on Manhattan Island. They did not 
agree with the governors hostile views ; and Keift finding them not only op- 
posed to his war designs, but that they were also taking cognizance of alleged 
grievances of the people, dissolved them, in February, 1G42. Finally, the 
commission of other murders l)y Indians, and the presence of a body of Mo- 
hawks, who had come down to exact tribute from the River tribes, concurred 
Avith the changed opinions of some leading citizens of New Amsterdam, to 
make Keift resolve to embrace this opportunity to chastise the savages. A 
large number of them had fled before the Mohawks, and sought shelter with 
the Hackensacks, near Iloboken, and there craved tiie protection of the Dutch. 
Now was offered an opportunity for a wise and humane governor to make a 
covenant of peace and friendship ; but Keift could not be satisfied without a 
How of blood. At midnight, in February, 1643, a body of Hollanders and Mo- 
hawks crossed the Hudson, fell upon the unsuspecting fugitives, and before the 
dawn, they massacred almost a hundred men, women, and children. Many 
were driven from the cliffs at Hoboken into the freezing flood ; and at sunrise 
the bloody marauders returned to New Amsterdam with thirty prisoners, and 
the heads of several Indians. 

The fiery hatred and vengeance of all the surrounding tribes were aroused 
by this massacre, and a fierce Avar Avas soon kindled. Villages and farms Avcrc 
desolated, and white people Avere butchered wherever they were found by the 
incensed Indians.'' The Long Island tribes,^ hitherto friendly, joined their kin- 
dred, and the very existence of the Dutch colony Avas menaced. Fortunately 
for the settlers, that eminent peace-maker, Roger Williams,* arriA'ed [1643], to 
embark for England,^ and he pacified the savages, and secured a brief repose for 
the colony. But the Avar Avas soon renewed, and for tA\'o years the colony suf- 
fered dreadfully. Having no competent leader, they employed Captain John 
Underbill,*^ Avho successfully beat back and defeated the Indians, and hostilities 
ceased. The MohaAv! s came and claimed sovereignty OA^er the RiA'er Indians, 
made a treat}"^ of peace Avith the Dutch, and the hatchet was buried. 

The conduct of Governor Keift was so offensive to the colonists and the 
Company, that he was recalled, and ho sailed for Europe in 1647, in a richly 
laden vessel. It Avas A\'recked on the coast of Wales, and there he perished. 
He had already been succeeded in office [May, 27, 1647], by Peter Stuyvesant, 
lately gOA^ernor of Cura ;oa, a soldier of eminence, and possessed of every requis- 
ite for an efficient administration of government. His treatment of the Indians 
Avas very kind and just, and they soon exhibited such friendship for the Dutch, 
that Stuyvesant Avas falsely charged Avith a design to employ them in murder- 
ing the English in Ncav England.' Long accustomed, as a mihtary leader, to 

' Note 2, papre 92. 

" It was during this frenzy of revenge that !krrs. TTntchinson, who lind been banished from Mas- 
sachusetts, and had taken up her residence near the present New Rochelle, Westchester County, 
New York, was murdered, wth all her family-. The stream upon which she lived is yet known as 
Hutchinson's River. « Page 21. * Page 87. * Page 91. « Page 87. 

' See page 121. Tlus idea prevailed, because during almost the entire winter of 1652-3, Nini(jrct 



142 



THE COLONIES. 



[1623. 



arbitrary rule, he was stern and inflexible, but he had the reputation of an 
honest man. He immediately commenced much needed reforms ; and during 
his whole administration, which Avas ended by the sulyugation of the Dutch 1)y 
the English,' in 1664, he was the faithful and energetic defender of the integ- 




rity of the province against its foes. By prudent management he avoided col- 
lisions with the English, and peaceably ended boundary disputes' with them in 
the autumn of 1650. This cause for irritation on his eastern frontier being 
removed, Stuyvesant turned his attention to the growing poAver of the SAvedes, 
on the Delaware. 

Governor Stuyvesant built Fort Casimir, on the site of the present New 

and two other Narrag-ansctt sachems had been in New Amsterdam, and on very friendlj- terms with 
Stuyvesant. These sachems, who were true friends of the Enghsh, positively disclaimed all bad 
intentions on the part of Stuyvesant, and yet historians of the present day repeat the slander. 

' Page 144. 

"^ See page 85. He went to Hartford, and there made a treaty which fixed the eastern bound- 
ray of New Netherland nearly on the line of the present division l^etween New York and Connecti- 
cut, and across Long Island, at Oyster Bay, thirty miles eastward of New York. The Dutch claims 
to lands on the Connecticut Kiver were extinguished by this treaty. From the beginning of ditfi- 
culties, the Dutch were clearly in the right. This was acknowledged hx impartial and just New 
Ihiglanders. In a manuscript letter before me, from Edward Winslow to Governor Winthrop, dated 
at '• Marshfield, 2d of 6th month, 1644," in whicli he replies to a charge of being favorable to the 
Dutch, in some respects, he says that he had asserted in substance, that he "would not defend the 
Hartford men's cause, for they had hitherto (or thus long) wronged the Dutch." 



1755.] NEW YORK. 143 

Castle, in Dela^Yarc, in 1G51. This was soon seized by the Swedes, and the 
garrison made prisoners. The States-General' resolved to prevent further 
trouble with these enterprising neighbors of the Dutch, and for this purpose, 
gave Stuyvesant full liberty to subjugate the Swedes. At the head of six hun- 
dred men, he sailed for the DelaAvare, in August. 1055, and by the middle of 
October, he had captured all the Swedish fortresses, and sent the governor 
(Risingh) and several other influential men, to Europe. Some of the settlers 
withdrew to Maryland and Virginia, but the great body of them quietly sub- 
mitted, took an oath of allegiance to the States-General of Holland, and con- 
tinued in peaceable possession of their property. Thus, after an existence of 
about seventeen years [1638 — 1655 J, Ne\v Sweden- disappeared by absorp- 
tion into New Netherland. 

New trouble now appeared, but it was soon removed. AVhile Stuyvesant 
and his soldiery were absent on the Delaware, some Indians, who were not yet 
reconciled to the Dutch, menaced New Amsterdam.^ The return of the gov- 
ernor produced quiet, for they feared and respected him, and, for eight years, 
the colony was very little disturbed by external causes. Then the Esopus 
Indians suddenly fell upon the Dutch settlements [June, 1GG-3J at AViltwyck 
(now Kingston, in Ulster County).'' and killed and captured sixty-five of the in- 
habitants. Stuyvesant promptly sent a sufficient force to chastise tlicm ; and so 
thoroughly was the errand performed, that the Indians sued for peace in IMay, 
1664, and made a treaty of friendship. 

External difficulties gave Stuyvesant little more trouble than a spirit opposed 
to his aristocratic views, which he saw manifested daily around him. While he 
had been judiciously removing all cause for ill-feeling with his neighbors, there 
was a power at work Avithin his own domain which gave him great uneasiness. 
The democratic seed planted by the Twelve, in Keift's time,^ had begun to grow 
vigorously under the fostering care of a few enlightened Hollanders, and some 
Puritans who had settled in New Netherland. The latter, by their applause 
of English institutions, had diffused a desire among the people to partake of the 
blessings of English liberty, as they understood it, and as it appeared in New 
England. Stuyvesant was an aristocrat by birth, education, and pursuit, and 
vehemently opposed every semblance of democracy. At the beginning he found 
himself at variance with the people. At length an assembly of two deputies 
from each village in New Netherland, chosen by the inhabitants, convened at 
New Amsterdam [December, 1653], without the approbation of the governor. 
It was a spontaneous, and, in the eyes of the governor, a revolutionary move- 
ment. Their proceedings displeased him ; and finding argument of no avail, he 
exercised his official prerogative, and commanded obedience to his will. The 
people grew bolder at every rebuff, and finally they not only resisted taxation, 
but openly expressed a willingness to bear English rule for the sake of enjoying 
English liberty. 

The opportunity for a change of rulers was not long delayed. A crisis in 

' Note 7, page 59. " Page 93. ' Page 139. * Pago 283. * Page 140, 



244 THE COLONIES. [1G23. 

the affairs of New Netherland now approached. Charles the Second, of En- 
gland, without anj fair pretense to title, gave the whole territory of New 
Netherland [March 22, 1664 J to his brother James, Duke of York,' The duke 
sent an English squadron, under the command of Colonel Richard Nicolls,' to 
secure the gift ; and on the od of September, 1664, the red cross of St. George^ 
floated in triumph over the fort, and the name of New Amsterdam was changed 
to New York.* It was an easy conquest, for, while the fortifications and other 
means of defense were very weak, the people were not unwilling to try English 
rule. Stuyvesant began to make concessions to the people, when it was too 
late, and when his real strength, the popular will, had departed from him. He 
hesitated long before he would sign the articles of capitulation ; and thus, until 
the end, he was faithful to his employers, the Dutch West India Company." 
With the capital, the remainder of the province passed into the hands of the 
English; and early in October, 1664, New Netherland was acknowledged a 
part of the Briti.-h realm, and Nicolls, the conqueror became governor." Let 
us now consider 

NEW YORK UNDER THE ENGLISH. 

Very soon after the 

conquest the people of 

New York'' perceived 

that a change of masters 

CITY OF NEW YORK IN 1664. did iiot ciihance their 

prosperity and happiness. 
They were disappointed in their hopes of rC representative government ; and 
their taxes, to support a government in which they had no voice, were increased. 
Lovelace, the vile successor of Nicolls, in 1667, increased their burdens ; and 
when they sent a respectful protest to him, he ordered the paper to be burned 
by the common hangman. He was a petty tyrant, and declared that the peo- 
ple should have " liberty for no thought but how to pay their taxes." But the 
people did think of something else, and were on the eve of open rebellion when 

' rago 94. "^ Note 6, page 123. 

° The royal standard of England is sometimes so named because it bears a red cross, which is 
called the "cross of St. George," the patron samt of Great Britain. After the union with Scotland 
[note 1, page 63], the cross of St. Andrew (in the form of an X), was added, and is now seen on 
the British flag. In the centre are the royal arms. This Union, as the figure is called, was borne 
upon the American flags, sometnnes, until after the Lcclaration of Independence, in 1776. It was 
upon the flag of thirteen stripes, alternate red and wliite, which Washington caused to be unfurled 
at Cambridge, on the first day of tliat jeav. See page 245. 

^ The name of Fort Orange settlement [note 9, page 139], was changed to Albany, one of the 
duke's titles. ^ Page 72 

* We have elsewhere noticed the fact, that before Nicolls was^ dispatched, the duke, being cer- 
tain of victory, sold tliat part of New Netherland now included in New Jersey, to other parties. 
[See page 94.] Long Island, which had lieen previously granted to the Earl of Stirling, was pur- 
chased jjy the Dutch, in total disregard of the claims of Connecticut. The colonies on the Delaware 
remained under the jurisdiction of New York, and were governed by deputies. 

'' The above picture is a correct view of tlie city of New York two hundred years ago It is now 
[1836] the largest city on the American continent. On the left of the picture is seen Fort Amster- 
dam, with the church and governor's house within it, and a -ftandmill. The pomt of Manhattan 
Island, from tile present Battery Place to the foot of Wall-street, is here seen. 





e«pp!tr -^' 



Stuyvesant Surrenuerinu tub Fort to the English. 



1755.] NEW YORK. 147 

the clouds of national war overshadowed local diflficulties. War again com- 
menced between England and Holland in 1672, and in July the following year, 
a Dutch squadron sailed up the Bay of New York, and, in the al)sence of the 
governor, took possession of the fort and town [August 9tii, 1GT3] Avithout 
giving a shot. The easy conquest was the work of treason ; yet, as the royal 
libertine (Charles the Second) on the throne of England doubtless shared in the 
bribe, the traitor went unpunished.' New Jersey and the Territories of Dela- 
ware'' yielded, and for sixteen months [from July, 1GT3, to November, 1GT4] 
New York was again New Netherlands. When the two nations made a treaty 
of peace, the province was restored to the English, and remained in their pos- 
session until our Independence was declared in 1770.^ These changes raised 
some doubts concerning the validity of the duke's title, and the king gave him 
another grant in July, 1674. Sir Edmond Andres* was appointed governor 
under the new charter, and continued arbitrary rule with increased rigor. ^ 

At the close of 1683, Governor Andres returned to England, when the 
duke (who was a Roman Catholic) appointed Thomas Dongan, of the sauio 
faith, to succeed him. In the mean while, the duke had listened to the judicious 
advice of William Penn, and instructed Dongan to call an assembly of repre- 
sentatives. They met [October 17, 1683], and with the hearty concurrence of 
the governor, a Charter of Liberties was established,^ and the permanent 
foundation of a representative government was laid. The people rejoiced in the 
change, and were heartily engaged in the efforts to perfect a wise and liberal 
government, when the duke was elevated to the throne, as James the Second, 
on the death of Charles, in February, 1685. As king, he refused to confirm 
the privileges which, as duke, he had granted ; and having determined to intro- 
duce the Roman Catholic religion into the province as the established church, 
he commenced by efforts to enslave the people. A direct tax was ordered ; the 
pi*inting press — the right arm of knowledge and freedom — was forbidden a 
place in the colony ; and the provincial offices Avcre filled by Roman Catholics. 
These proceedings gave pain to the liberal-minded Dongan ; and Avhen the king, 
in his religious zeal, instructed the governor to introduce French priests among 
the Five Nations,' he resisted the measure as highly inexpedient.' His firm- 



' The traitor was Captain John Maiiiiin(r, tlie commandant of the fort. lie wns, doubtless, 
bribed by the Dutch commander; and the fact that the king screened him from pmiisliment, gavo 
the color of truth to the charge that tlie monarch shared in the bribe. ^ Pau-e 9G. 

' Page 251. " Page 129. 

' The duke claimed the country from the Connecticut River to Capo Henlopen. Andros 
attempted to exercise authority eastward of the line agreed upon by the Dutch and the Connecticut 
people [note 2, page M2], and went to Saybrook in the summer of 1G7G, with an armed party, to 
enforce the claim. lie met with such resistance, that he was compelled to return to New York 
witliout accomplishing liis design. tSce page 116. 

* The Assembly consisted of the governor and ten councillors, and seventeen deputies elected' 
by the freeholders. They adopted a Daclaratioii of Rights, and asserted the principle, so nobly 
(ought for a hundred j'cnrs later, tliat iaxation and representation are inseparable; in other words — 
that taxes can not be levied without the consent of the people, expressed b}-^ their representatives. 
At this time the colony was divided into twelve comities. ' Page 23. 

** This measure would have given the French, in Canada, an influence over the Indians that 
might have proved fatal to I'liiglish power on tlie Continetit. The Five Nations remained the fast 
friends of the English, and stood as a jjowerful barrier against tiie French, when the latter twice 
invaded the Iroquois territory, in emieavors to reach the English, at Albany. 



X48 THE COLONIES. [1623. 

ness gave the people confidence, and they were again on the eve of open rebel- 
lion, when the intelligence of the flight of James, and the accession of William 
and jNIary' reached them. They immediately appointed a committee of safety, 
and with almost unanimous voice, sanctioned the conduct of Jacob Leisler (an 
influential merchant and commander of the militia), who had taken possession 
of the fort in the name of the new sovereigns, and by order of the inhabitants. 
Afraid of the people, Nicholson, the successor of Dongan, fled on board a vessel 
and departed, and the people consented to Leisler's assuming the functions of 
governor until a new one should be appointed. The aristocracy and the magis- 
trates were offended, and denouncing Leisler as a usurper, they accused him 
of treason, when Governor Sloughter arrived, in 1691. 

Leisler, in the mean while, conducted affairs with prudence and energy. 
Having the sanction of the people, he needed no further authority ; and when a 
letter from the British ministers arrived [December, 1689], directed to Gov- 
ernor Nicholson, "or, in his absence, to such as, for the time being," conducted 
affairs, he considered it as fairly addressed to himself. Milborne, his son-in-law, 
acted as his deputy, and was included in the accusations of the magistrates, 
who had now retired to Albany. They held Fort Orange" until the invasion 
of the French, in February, 1690,^ when they felt the necessity of claiming 
the protection of the government at New York. They then yielded, and 
remained comparatively quiet until the arrival of Richard Ingoldsby, Sloughter's 
lieutenant, early in 1691. That officer announced the appointment of Henry 
Sloughter as governor ; and Avithout producing any credentials of authority, he 
haughtily demanded of Leisler [February 9, 1691] the surrender of the fort. 
Of course Leisler refused compliance ; but as soon as Sloughter arrived [March 
29], he sent a messenger to announce his desire to surrender all authority into 
his hands. Leisler's enemies had resolved on his destruction ; and when he 
came forward to deliver the fort, in person, he and his son-in-law Avere seized 
and cast into prison. They were tried on a charge of treason, found guilty, 
and condenuied to suffer death. Sloughter withheld his signature to their 
death warrant ; but, when made drunk at a dinner party prepared for the pur- 
pose, he put his name to the fatal instrument. Before he became sober, Leisler 
and Milborne Avere suspended upon a gallows on the verge of Beekman's swamp 
INIay 26, 1691], where Tammany Hall— fronting on the City Hall Park, New 
York — now stands. These Avere the proto-martyrs of popular liberty in 
America.'' 

Henry Sloughter Avas a Aveak and dissolute man, yet he came with an earn- 
est desire to promote the welfare of the colonists. He convened a popular 
assembly, and formed a constitution, Avhich provided for trial by jury, and an 
exemption from taxes, except by the consent of the representatives of the peo- 
ple. Light Avas tlius dawning hopefully upon the province, Avhen delirium 

1 Xote T, papre 113. - Note 9, page 139. 

° At this time, Sclienectada was desolated. See page 131. 

* Their estates Avere confiscated ; but after a lapse of scA'cral years, and when the violence of 
party spirit had subsided, the property was restored to their families. 



1755.] NEW YORK. I49 

tremens^ at the close of a drunken revel, ended the administration and the life 
of the governor [August 2, 1691 J, in less than three months after the murder 
of Leisler and Milborne. He Avas succeeded by Benjamin Fletcher, a man of 
violent passions, and quite as weak and dissolute, who became the tool of the 
aristocracy, and was hated l)y the people. Party spirit, engendered by the 
death of Leisler, burned intensely during the Avhole administration of Fletcher ; 
and at tiie same time the French and Indians, under the guidance of Frontenac, 
the able Governor of Canada,' were traversing the northern frontiers of the 
province. Fletcher prudently listened to the advice of Major Schuyler,'^ of 
Albany, respecting the Indians ; and under his leadership, the English, and 
their unwavering allies, the Five Nations, successfully beat back the foe to 
the St. Lawrence, and so desolated the French settlements in 1692, in the 
vicinity of Lake Champlain,^ that Frontenac Avas glad to remain quiet at 
Montreal. 

A better ruler for Ncav York noAV appeared. The Earl of Bellomont, an 
honest and energetic Irish peer, succeeded Fletcher in 1698 ; and the following 
year, Ncav Hampshire^ and Massachusetts^ Avere placed under his jurisdiction. 
He commenced reform Avith great earnestness, and made vigorous efforts to sup- 
press piracy,'' Avhich had become a fearful scourge to the infant commerce of 
the colonists. With Rol)crt Livingston' and others, he fitted out an expedition 
under the famous Captain Kidd, to destroy the buccaneers. Kidd, himself, Avas 
afterAvard hung for j)iracy [1701], and the governor and his sons were charged 
with a participation in his guilt. At any rate, there can be little doubt that 
wealthy men in the colony expected a share in the plunder, and that Kidd, as a 
scape-goat for the sins of the others, was the victim of a political conspiracy.^ 

Unfortunately for the colony, death remoA^ed Bellomont, on the 16th of 
March, 1701, Avhen his liberal policy Avas about to bear fruit. He Avas suc- 
ceeded by EdAvard Hyde (afterAvard Lord Cornbury),® a libertine and a knave, 
who cursed the province Avith misrule for seven years. He Avas a bigot, too, 
and persecuted all denominations of Christians, except those of the Church of 
England, He embezzled the public moneys, iuA^olved himself in heavy debts, 
and on all occasions Avas the practical enemy of popular freedom. The people 



' From 1678 to 1G82, and ap:ain from 1G89 to 1698, when he died, at the a,o:e of 77. 

^ Peter Schuj-ler. lie was maj-or of Albany, and acquu-ed unbounded influence over tlie Five 
Nations of Indians. See page 23. 

* Schuyler's force was about three hundred Mohawks, and as many Eng:Hph. The}' slew aliont 
three hundred of the Frencli and Indians, at tlie nortli end of the lake. * Page 79. * Page 117. 

® Because Spain claimed the exclusive right to the West Indi|gi seas, her commerce in that region 
was regarded as fair plunder. Privateer commissions were readily granted bj^ the English, French, 
and Dutch governments ; and daring spirits from all countries were found under their Hags. The 
buccaneers, as the}' were called, became very numerous and powerful, and at length depredated 
upon English commerce as well as Spanish. Privateers, or those legally authorized to seize the prop- 
erty of an enemy, became pirates, or sea robbers. Privateering is only legalized piracy. 

' An immigrant from Scotland, and ancestor of the Livingston family in this country. He was 
connected, by man-iage, with the Van Rensselaer and Schuyler families; and in 1685, he received 
from governor Dong;ui a grant of 11 feudal principality (seepatroon, page 139) on the Hudson, yet 
known as Livingston's Manor. 

** King AA'illiam himself was a shareholder in the enterprise for which Kidd was fitted out. Kidd 
appeared publicly in Boston, where he was arrested, then sent to England, tried, and executed. 

" Page 161. 



150 THE COLONIES. []r,:n. 

finally demanded and obtained his recall, and the moment his official career 
ceased, in 1708, his creditors cast him into prison, where he remained until his 
accession to the peerage, on the death of his ftither.' From this period until 
the arrival of William Cos1)j, as governor [1732], the royal representatives, '^ 
unable to resist the will of the people, as expressed bj the Assembly, allowed 
democratic principles to grow and bear fruit. ^ 

Tlie popular will and voice now began to be potential in the administration 
of public affairs. Rip Van Dam, "a man of the people," was acting governor 
when Cosby came. They soon quarreled, and two violent parties arose — the 
democratic, which sided with Van Dam, and the aristocratic, which supported 
the governor. Each party had the control of a newspaper,* and the war of 
words raged violently for a long time. The governor, unable to compete with 
his opponent, finally ordered the arrest of Zenger [November, 1734 J, the pub- 
lisher of the democratic paper, on a charge of libel. After an imprisonment of 
thirty-five weeks, Zenger Avas tried by a jury, and acquitted, in July, 1735. 
He Avas defended by Andrew Hamilton, of Philadelphia, Avho was presented by 
the magistrates of the city of New York with a gold box, as a token of their 
esteem for his noble advocacy of popular rights. Then was distinctly drawn 
the line of demarcation between republicans and royalists (Whigs and Tories)," 
which continued prominent until the war of the revolution was ended in 1783. 

From the arrival of Cosby until the commencement of the French and 
Indian war,° tlic history of New York is composed chiefly of the records of 
party strife, and presents very little matter of interest to the general reader. 
Only one episode demands special attention, namely, the excitement and results 
incident to a supposed conspiracy of the negroes, in 1741, to burn and plunder 
the city, murder the inhal)itants, and set vip a government under a man of their 
own color. Several incendiary fires had occurred in rapid succession, and a 
house had been robbed by some slaves. The idea of a regular and horrid con- 
spiracy at once prevailed, and, as in the case of the Salem Witchcraft,' an 
intense panic pervaded all classes, and many innocent persons suffered.^ This 
is' known in history as The Negro Plot. 



' Accordino; to an unjust law of England, a peer of the realm (who is consequently a member 
of the House of Lords [note 2, page 218]) can not be arrested for debt. This law, enacted in the 
reign of Henry the Eighth, still prevails. 

"^ Lord Lovelace, Ligoldsby, Hunter, Schuyler, Burnet, and Montgomerie. 

^ We have already noticed (page 135) the breaking out of Queen Anne\s War, in 1702, and the 
successful expeditions fitted out and sent in the direction of Montreal in 1709 and 1711. The debt 
which these expeditions laid upoiT New York, was felt for many years. 

^ The Neio York Weekly Journal (democratic), by John Peter Zenger; The Neiu York Gazette 
(aristocratic), by "William Bradford. The latter owned the first press ever set up in the province. 
He commenced printing in New York in 169G. See note 3, page 179. 

' Note 4, page 226. ° Tage 179. ' Page 132. 

® Before the panic was allayed, four white people were hanged, and eleven negroes were 
burned, eighteen were hanged, and fifty were sent to the West Lidies and sold. 



1755.] MARYLAND 151 

CHAPTER IV. 

MARYLAND. [1G39.] 

When the first popular assembly convened at St. Mary, for legislative pur- 
poses, on the 8th of March, 1635,' Maryland had then its colonial birth. Its 
sturdy growth began when, in 1639, the more convenient form of representa- 
tive government was established. It was crude, but it possessed the elements 
of republicanism. The freemen chose as many representatives as they pleased, 
and others were appointed by the proprietor. These, with the governor and 
secretary, composed the legislature. At this first session a Declaration of 
Rights was adopted, the powers of the governor were defined, and all the privi- 
leges enjoyed by English subjects "svere guarantied to the colonists.* 

Very soon the Indians in the vicinity, becoming jealous of the increasing 
strength of the white people, began to evince hostility. Frequent collisions 
occurred ; and in 1642, a general Indian war commenced in the region between 
the Potomac and the Chesapeake. It was terminated in 1645, but the quiet 
of the province was soon disturbed again. Clayborne had returned from 
England' [1645], and speedily fanned the embers of discontent into a flame of 
open rebellion. He became too powerful for the local authorities, and Governor 
Calvert* was obliged to flee to Virginia. During a year and a half, the insur- 
gents held the reins of government, and the horrors of civil war brooded over 
the colony. The rebellion was suppressed in the summer of 1646, and in 
August, Calvert resumed his ofiice. 

In the year 1649, a very important law, known as The Toleration Act, was 
passed by the Assembly. Religious freedom w^as guarantied by the charter,^ 
yet, as much animosity existed between the Protestants^ and Roman Catholics, 
the Assembly' thought proper to give the principle the solemn sanction of law. 
By that act every professed believer in Jesus Christ and the Trinity, Avas 
allowed free exercise of his religious opinions, and no man was permitted to 
reproach another on account of his peculiar doctrines, except under the penalty 
of a fine, to be paid to the person so insulted. Thither persecuted Churchmen 
of New England, and oppressed Puritans of Virginia, fled and found an asylum. 
This act, short of full toleration as it was (for it placed Unitarians beyond the 
pale of its defense), is the pride and glory of the early legislature of Maryland ; 
yet it was not the first instance in iVmerica, as is often alleged, wdien religious 
toleration received the sanction of law.* Rhode Island has that honor. 



' Page 82. » Page 82. " Note 1, page 82. 

* Page 8L » Pago 81. . ^ Note 14, page 62. 

' Bozmaii, in his History of Maryland (IT. 350 — 356), maintains tliat the majority of the mem- 
bers of the Assembly of 1 049, were Protestants. 

* In May, 1647, the General Assembly of Rhode Island, convened at Portsmouth, adopted a 
code of laws which closed with the declaration that "all men might walk as their consciences per- 
suaded them, without molestation — every one in the name of his God." This was broader tolera- 
tion thao the Maryland act contemplated, for it did not restrict men to a belief iu Jesus Christ. 



152,. "■ THE COLONIES. [1639. 

Being favored by events in the mother country, republicanism grew steadily 
in the new State. Royalty was abolished in England [1649], and for more 
than ten years the democratic idea Avas prevalent throughout the realm. Lord 
Baltimore, the proprietor of Maryland, professed republicanism on the death of 
the king, but he had been too recently a royalist to secure the confidence of 
Parliament. Stone, his lieutenant, was removed from office [April 16, 1651] 
by commissioners (of whom Clay borne was one), who Avere sent to administer the 
government of the colony. He was soon afterward [July 8] restored. On the 
dissolution of the Long Parliament [1653]' Cromwell restored full power to the 
proprietor, but the commissioners, who withdrew to Virginia, returned soon 
afterward, and compelled Stone to surrender the government into their hands. 

The colonial government had been re-organized in the mean while. The 
legislative body was divided into an Upper and Lower House in 1650 ; the 
former consisting of the governor and bis council, appointed by the proprietor, 
and the latter of representatives chosen by the people. At the same session a 
law was passed prohibiting all taxes, unless levied with the consent of the free- 
men. Political questions Avere freely discussed by the people ; and soon the 
tAYO chief religious sects Avere marshaled in opposition, as prime elements of 
political parties. So great had been the influx of Protestants, that they now 
[1654] outnumbered the Roman Catholics as voters and in the Assembly. They 
acknowledged the authority of CromAvell, and boldly questioned the rights and 
privileges of an hereditary proprietor.^ The Roman Catholics adhered to Lord 
Baltimore, and bitter religious hatred was fostered. The Protestants finally 
disfranchised their opponents, excluded them from the Assembly, and in Novem- 
ber, 1654, passed an act declaring Roman Catholics not entitled to the protec- 
tion of the laws of Maryland. 

This unchristian and unAvise act of the Protestant party, was a great wrong 
as Avell as a great mistake. Civil war ensued. Stone returned to St. Mary,^ 
organized an armed force composed chiefly of Roman Catholics, seized the colo- 
nial records, and assumed the office of governor. Skirmishes folloAved, and 
finally a scA^ere battle Avas fought [April 4, 1655] not far from the site of 
Annapolis, in which Stone's party Avas defeated, with a loss of about fifty men, 
killed and wounded. Stone Avas made prisoner, but his life was spared. Four 
other leading supporters of the proprietor Avere tried for treason and executed. 
Anarchy prevailed in the province for many months, Avhen the discordant ele- 
ments were brought into comparative order by the appointment of Josiali Fen- 
dall [July 20, 1656] as goA'ernor. He was suspected of favoring the Roman 
Catholics, and was soon arrested by order of the Protestant Assembly. For 

two years bitter strife continued between the people and the agents of the 

» 

' Wlaen Charles the First was beheaded [note 3, pao-e 108], the Pariiament assumed supreme 
authority, and remained in permanent session. Cromwell, with an army at his back, entered that 
assembly in the autumn of 1653, ordered them to disperse, and assumed supreme power himself 
under tlie title of Lord Protector. That British legislature is known in history as the Long ParUa- 
ment. 

^ According to the original charter, the heirs and successors of Lord Baltimore were to be pro- 
prietors forever. ^ Page 82. 



1755.1 MARYLAND. 153 

proprietor, vrlicn, after concessions by the latter, Fendall was acknowledged 
governor, on the 3d of April, 1(358. His prudence secured the confidence of 
the people, but the death of Cromwell, in September, 1658, presaging a change 
in the English government, gave them uneasiness. After long deliberation, 
the Assembly determined to avoid all further trouble with the proprietor, by 
asserting the supreme authority of the people. They accordingly dissolved the 
Upper House [March 21:, 1660],' and assumed the whole legislative power of 
the State. They then gave Fendall a commission as governor for the people. 

The restoration of monarchy in England took place in June, 1660," and the 
original order of things was re-established in jNlaryland. Lord Baltimore, hav- 
ing assured the new king that his republican professions' w^ere only temporary 
expedients, was restored to all his proprietary rights, by Charles. Fendall was 
tried, and found guilty of treason, because he accepted a commission from the 
rebellious Assembly. Baltimore, however, wisely proclaimed a general pardon 
for all political ofienders in Maryland ; and for almost thirty years afterward, 
the province enjoyed repose. A law, which established absolute political equal- 
ity among professed Christians, was enacted ; and after the death of the second 
Lord Baltimore [Dec. 10, 1675], his son and successor confirmed it. Lender 
that new proprietor, Charles Calvert, IMaryland was governed mildly and pru- 
dently, and the people were prospering in their political quietude, when the 
Revolution in England* shook the colonies. The deputy governor of j\Iaryland 
hesitated to proclaim William and Mary,* and this was made a pretense, by a 
restless spirit, named Coode,® for exciting the people. He gave currency to the 
absurd report that the local magistrates and the Roman Catholics had leagued 
with the Indians" for the destruction of all the Protestants in the colony. A 
similar actual coalition of Jesuits' and savages on the New England frontiers^ 
gave a coloring of truth to the story, and the old religious feud instantly burned 
again intensely. The Protestants formed an armed association [Sept., 1689], 
and led on by Coode, they took forcible possession of St. Mary, and by capitu- 
lation, received the pi'ovincial records and assumed the government. They 
called a Convention, and invested it with legislative powers. Its first acts were 
to depose the third Lord Baltimore, and to re-assert the so^•creign majesty of 
the people. 

Public affairs were managed by the Convention until 1691, Avhen the king 
unjustly deprived Baltimore of all his political privileges as proprietor [June 
11], and made Maryland a royal province."* Lionel Copley was appointed the 
first royal governor, in 1692. New laws were instituted — religious toleration 



' Page 152. ' Note 2, page 109. ' Page 152. * Note 7, page 11.1. * Pago 113. 

* Coode had been a confederate in a former insurrection, but escaped conviction. 

' A treaty with the Indians had just been renewed, and the customar}- presents distributed 
among them. These things Coode falsely adduced as evidences of a coa'."tion with the savages. 

" Note 5, page 130. " Page 130. 

'" King William had an exalted idea of royal prerogatives, and wa.s as much disported as the 
Stuarts (the kings of England from James the First to James the Second) to .suppress democracy in 
the colonies. He repeatedly vetoed (refused his assent) to Bills of Rights enacted by the colonial 
Assemblies ; refused his assent to local laws of the deepest interest to the colonists ; and instructed 
his governors to proliibit printing in the colonies. Note 7, page 112. 



154 THE COLONIES. [163!). 

was abolished — the Church of England was made the established religion, to be 
supported bj a tax on the people ; and in the State founded by Roman Cath- 
olics, the members of that denomination were cruelly disfranchised, with the 
consent of their sovereign. A few years later [1716], the proprietary rights 
of Lord Baltimore (now deceased) were restored to his infant heir, and the 
original form of government was re-established. Such continued to be the poli- 
tical complexion of the colony, until the storm of the Revolution in 1776, swept 
away every remnant of royalty and feudalism, and the State of Maryland was 
established. 



^ « ♦ ■ » 



CHAPTER V. 

CONNECTICUT. [1G3 0.] 

The Connecticut Colony' formed a political Constitution on the 24th of 
January, 1639, and in June following, the New Haven Colony performed 
the same important act.^ The religious element was supreme in the new organ- 
ization • and, in imitation of the Constitution of the Plymouth settlers, none 
but church members were allowed the privileges of freemen' at New Haven. 
They first appointed a committee of twelve men, Avho selected seven of their 
members to be " pillars" in the new State. These had power to admit as many 
others, as confederate legislators, as they pleased. Theophilus Eaton was 
chosen governor,* and the Bible was made the grand statute-book of the colony. 
Many of the New Haven settlers being merchants, they sought to found a com- 
mercial colony, but heavy losses by the wreck of vessels' discouraged them, and 
they turned their special attention to agriculture. Prudence marked the course 
of the magistrates of the several colonies in the Connecticut valley,^ and they 
were blessed with prosperity. But difficulties w^ith the Dutch respecting terri- 
torial boundaries,' and menaces of the neighboring Indians, gave them uneasi- 
ness, and made them readily join the New England confederation in 1643.* 
The following year the little independent colony at Saybrook' purchased the 
land of one of the proprietors of Connecticut,'" and became permanently annexed 
to that at Hartford.'' 

The future appeared serene and promising. The treaty made with Gov- 
ernor Stuyvesant, at Hartford, in 1650,'^ gave token of future tranquillity. But 
the repose was soon broken by international war. England and Holland drew 
the sword against each other in 1652 ; and because it was reported that Nini- 
gret, the wily sachem of the Narragansetts,'^ had spent several weeks at New 

' Page 89. ^ Page 89. The people assembled in a barn to form a new Constitution. 

' Note 5, page 118. 

* He was annually chosen to fill the office, until his death, which occurred in 1657. 
^ In 1647, a new ship belonging to the colony foundered at sea. It was laden with a valuable 
cargo, and the passengers belonged to some of the leading families in the colony. 

^ Page 86. ' Page 85, and note 2, page 142. * Page 121. " Page 86. 

" Page 85. " Page 88. " Note 2, page 142. " Note 7, page 141. 



It55.] CONNECTICUT. I55 

Amsterdam in the winter of 1652-3' the belief prevailed in New England, as 
we have already observed, that Stuyvesant was leaguing with the Indians for 
the destruction of the English.'-' Great excitement ensued, and a majority of 
the commissioners decided,^ in 1653, upon war with the Dutch. Immediate 
hostilities were prevented by the refusal of Massachusetts to furnish its quota 
of supplies. The Connecticut colonies (who were more exposed to blows from 
the Dutch than any other) applied to Cromwell for aid, and he sent four ships 
of war for the purpose. Before their arrival,* a treaty of peace was concluded 
between the two nations, and blood and treasure were saved. The Assembly 
at Hartford took possession of all property then claimed by the Dutch ; and 
after that the latter abandoned all claims to possessions in the Connecticut 
valley. 

On the restoration of Charles the Second, in 1660, the Connecticut colony 
expressed its loyalty, and obtained a charter. At first, Charles was disposed 
to refuse the application of Winthrop,^ the agent of the colony, for he had 
heard of the sturdy republicanism of the petitioners. But when Wintlirop 
presented his majesty with a ring which Charles the First had given to his 
father, the heart of the king was touched, and he granted a charter [May 30, 
1662] which not only confirmed the popular Constitution of the colony, but 
contained more liberal provisions than any yet issued from the royal hand.* It 
defined the eastern boundary of the province to be Narraganset Bay, and the 
Avestern, the Pacific Ocean. It thus included a portion of Rhode Island, and 
the whole NeiD Haven Colony.'' The latter gave a reluctant consent to the 
union in 1605, but Rhode Island positively refused the alliance. A charter 
given to the latter the year after one was given to Connecticut [1663],* covered 
a portion of the Connecticut grant in Narraganset Bay. Concerning this 
boundary the two colonies disputed for more than sixty years. 

The colony of Connecticut suffered but little during King Philip's War,' 
which broke out in 1675, with the exception of some settlements high up on 
the fresh water river."" Yet it furnished its full quota of men and supplies, and 
its soldiers bore a conspicuous part in giving the vigorous blows which broke 
the power of the New England Indians." At the same time, the colonists 
were obliged to defend their liberties against the attempted usurpations of Ed- 
mund Andros, then governor of New York."'' He claimed jurisdiction to the 



* This report was set afloat by Uncas, the mischievous Mohegan sachem [page 87], who hated 
the Narragansetts. It had no foundation in truth. See, also, page 21. 

=* Page 141 ' Page 121. 

* Roger Williams, then in England, managed to delay the sailing of the fleet, and thus, again, 
that eminent peace-maker prevented bloodshed. Page 87. 

^ John Winthrop, son of Governor Winthrop, of Massachusetts. He was chosen governor of 
Connecticut in 1657, and held the office several years. Such was his station when he appeared in 
England to a.sk a charter of the king. Hopkins (who was one of the founders of the New Haven 
colony) was chosen the first governor of the Connecticut colony, and for several years he and 
lla3'nes were alternately chosen chief magistrates. 

° This original charter is now [1856] in the office of the Secretary of the State of Connecticut. It 
contains a portrait of Charles the Second, handsomely drawn in India ink, and forming part of an 
initial letter. This was the instrument afterward hidden in the great oak mentioned on the next page. 

' Page 88. Thus the several settlements were united under the general name of Connecticut. 

« Page 156. * Pago 124. " Page 85. " Page 22. " Page 147. 



156 THE COLONIES. [1639. 

mouth of the Connecticut River, and in July, 1675, he proceeded to Saybrook 
with a small naval force, to assert his authority. He was permitted to land ; 
but when ho ordered the garrison in the fort to surrender, and began to read his 
commission to the people. Captain Bull, the commander, ordered him to be 
silent. Perceiving the strength and determination of his adversary, Andros 
wisely withdrew, and greatly irritated, returned to New York. 

During the next dozen years, very little occurred to disturb the quiet and 
prosperity of Connecticut. Then a most exciting scene took place at Hartford, 
in which the liberties of the colony were periled. Edmund Andros again ap- 
peared as a usurper of authority. He had been appointed governor of New 
En<Tland in 1686,' and on his arrival he demanded a surrender of the charters 
of all the provinces. They all complied, except Connecticut. She steadily 
refused to give up the guaranty of her political rights ; and finally Andros pro- 
ceeded to Hartford with sixty armed men, to enforce obedience. The Assem- 
bly were in session when he arrived [Nov. 10, 1687], and received him court- 
eously. He demanded the surrender of the charter, and declared the colonial 
government dissolved. Already a plan had been arranged for securing the safety 
of that precious instrument, and at the same time to preserve an appearance of 
loyalty. The debates were purposely protracted until the candles were lighted, 
at evening, when the charter was brought in and laid 
upon the table. Just as Andros stepped forward to 
take it, the candles were suddenly extinguished. The 
charter was seized hy Captain Wadsworth, of the mil- 
itia, and under cover of the night it was effectually 
concealed in the holloAV trunk of a huge oak, standing 
not far from the Assembly chamber.^ When the can- 
dles were relighted, the members were in perfect 
,- <:i^^_.«*«^ '" order, but the charter could not be found. Andros 

was highly incensed at being thus foiled, but he 
wisely restrained his passion, assumed the government, and with his own hand 
wrote the word Finis after the last record of the Charter Assembly. The gov- 
ernment was administered in his own name until he was driven from Boston in 
1689,^ when the charter was taken from the oak [May 19, 1689], a popular 
Assembly was convened, Robert Treat was chosen governor, and Connecticut 
again assumed her position as an independent colony. 

Petty tyrants continued to molest. A little more than four years later, the 
Connecticut people were again compelled to assert their chartered liberties. 
Colonel Fletcher, then governor of New York,^ held a commission which gave 
him command of the militia of Connecticut.^ As that power was reserved to 

' Page 129. 

' That tree remained vigorous until ten minutes before one o'clock in the morning, August 21, 
1856, when it was prostrated during a heavy storm, and nothing but a stump remains. It stood 
on tlie south side of Charter-street, a few rods from Main-street, in the city of Hartford. The cavity 
in which the charter was concealed, had become partially closed. 

^ Page 130. ' Page 147. 

"■ The declared object of this commission was to enable Fletcher to call forth the Connecticut 
militia when proper, to repel an expected iuvusiou of Northern New York, by the French and 
Indians. 




nss.] RHODE ISLAND. ]57 

the colonj bj the charter, the Legislature refused to acknowledge Fletcher's 
authority. In November, 1693, he repaired to Hartford, and, notAvithstanding 
the Legislature was in session, and again promptly denied his jurisdiction, he 
ordered the militia to assemble. The Hartford companies, under Captain 
Wadsworth,' were drawn up in line ; but the moment Fletcher attempted to 
read his commission, the drums were beaten. His angry order of " Silence!" 
was obeyed for a moment ; but when he repeated it, Wadsworth boldly stepped 
in front of him, and said, " Sir, if they are again interrupted, I '11 make the sun 
shine through you in a moment." Fletcher perceived the futility of a parley, 
or further assumption of authority ; and, pocketing his commission, he and Ins 
attendants returned to New York, greatly chagrined and irritated. The mat- 
ter was compromised when referred to the king, who gave the governor of Con- 
necticut militia jurisdiction in time of peace, but in the event of war. Colonel 
Fletcher should have the command of a certain portion of the troops of that 
colony. 

And now, in the year 1700, Connecticut had a population of about thirty 
thousand, which rapidly increased during the remainder of her colonial career. 
During Quee?i Anne's War^'^ and the stirring events in America from that 
time until the commencement of the French and Indian War,' when her people 
numbered one hundred thousand, Connecticut went hand in hand with her sis- 
ter colonies for mutual welfare ; and her history is too closely interwoven with 
theirs to require further separate notice. 



CHAPTER VI . 

RHODE ISLAND. [164 4.] 

When the Providence and Rhode Island plantations were united under 
the same government in 1644, the colony of Rhode Island commenced its inde- 
pendent career." That charter was confirmed by the Long Parliament' in 
October, 1652, and this put an end to the persevering efforts of Massachusetts 
to absorb " Williams's Narraganset Plantation." That colony had always 
coveted the beautiful Aquiday,'' and feared the reaction of Williams's tolerant 
principles upon the people from whose bosom he had been cruelly expelled.' A 
dispute concerning the eastern boundary of Rhode Island was productive of 
much ill feeling during the progress of a century, when, in 1741, commission- 
ers decided the present line to be the proper division, and wrangling ceased. 

' Page 156. " Page 135. ' Page 179. 

* Pago 91. A general assembly of deputies from the several towns, met at Portsmouth on the 
29th of May, 1647, and organized the new government by the election of a president and other offi- 
cers. At that time a code of laws was adopted, which declared the government to be a democracy, 
and that "all men might walk as their conscience persuaded them." Page 151. 

* Note 1, page 150. « Note 5, page 91. "> Page 91. 



-^53 THE COLONIES. [1644 

Nor was Rhode Island free from those internal commotions, growing out of relig- 
ious disputes and personal ambition, which disturbed the repose of other colonies. 
These were quieted toward the close of 1653, when Roger Williams was chosen 
president. Cromwell confirmed the royal charter on the 22d of May, 1655, 
and during his administration the colony prospered. On the accession of 
Charles the Second,' Rhode Island applied for and obtained a new charter 
[July 8, 1663J, highly democratic in its general features, and similar, in every 
respect, to the one granted to Connecticut.' The first governor elected under 
this instrument, was Benedict Arnold;^ and by a colonial law, enacted during 
his first administration, the privileges of freemen were granted only to free- 
holders and their eldest sons. 

Bowing to the mandates of royal authority, Rhode Island yielded to Andros, 
in January, 1687 ; but the moment intelligence reached the people of the acces- 
sion of William and Mary' [May 11, 1689], and the imprisonment of the petty 
tyrant at Boston," they assembled at Newport, resumed their old charter, and 
re-adopted their seal — an anchor^ with Hrrpe for a motto. Under this charter, 
Rhode Island continued to be governed for one hundred and fifty-seven years, 
Avhen the people, in representative convention, in 1842, adopted a constitution.* 
Newport soon became a thriving commercial town ; and when, in 1732, John 
Franklin established there the first newspaper in the colony, it contained five 
thousand inhabitants, and the whole province about eighteen thousand.' Near 
Newport the celebrated Dean Berkeley purchased lands in 1729 ; and with 
him came John Smibert, an artist, who introduced portrait painting into Amer- 
ica.' Notwithstanding Rhode Island was excluded from the New England 
confederacy," it always bore its share in defensive efforts ; and its history is 
identified with that of New England in general, from the commencement of 
King William's War." 



* Page 109. 

' Page 154. This charter guarantied free toleration in religious matters, and the legislature of 
the colony re-asserted the principle, so as to give it the popular force of law. The assertion, mado 
by some, that Roman Catholics were excluded from voting, and that Quakers were outlawed, is 
erroneous. 

^ He was governor several times, serving in that office, altogether, about eleven years. He was 
chief magistrate of the colony when he died, in 1678. " Page 130. 

' Page 130. ^ Page 477. 

^ Of these, about one thousand were Indians, and more than sixteen hundred were negroes. 

* Berkeley preached occasionally in a small Episcopal church at Newport, and presented the 
congregation with an organ, thc^ th'st ever heard in America. Smibert was a Scotchman, and 
married and settled at Boston. His picture of Berkeley and his family is still preserved at Yale 
(jollege [page 178], in New Haven. Berkeley (afterward made bishop of a -diocese in Ireland) made 
great'^eftbrts' toward the establishment of the Arts and Learning, in America. Failing in his project 
offoundino- a new University, he became one of the most liberal benefactors of Yale College. In 
view of the future progress of the colonies, he wrote that prophetic poem, the last verse of which 
contains the oft-quoted line — 

"Westward the course of Empire takes its way." 
» Page 12L " t'age 130. 



^755.] NEW JERSEY. 1^9 

CHAPTER VII. 

NEW JERSEY. [1 G 64.] 

The settlements in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware, wo have 
considered together in the same chapter,' as constituting a series of events hav- 
ing intimate relations with each other. The history of the colonial organization 
of the first two, is separate and distinct. Delaware was never an independent 
colony or State, until after the Declaration of Independence, in 17 76. The 
founding of the New Jersey colony occurred when, in 1664, the Duke of York 
sold the territory to Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret,^ and the new 
proprietors began the work of erecting a State. They published a form of 
agreement which they called " Concessions,"^ in which liberal offers were made 
to emigrants who might settle within the territory. Among other provisions, 
the people were to be exempt from the payment of quit-rents and other burdens, 
for the space of five years. Allured by the liberality of the " Concessions," as 
well as by the salubrity of the climate and the fertility of the soil, many families 
came from Long Island in 1664, and settled at Elizabethtown ;* and in August, 
the following year, Philip Carteret (brother of one of the proprietors) was 
appointed governor, and arrived at Elizabethtown with a number of settlers. 

At first all was peaceable. Nothing disturbed the repose of the colony 
during the five years' exemption from rents ; but when, in 1670, the specified 
halfpenny, for the use of each acre of land, was required, murmurs of discon- 
tent were loud and universal. Those who had purchased land from the Indians, 
denied the right of the proprietors to demand rent from them ; and some of the 
towns had even denied the authority of the Assembly, at its first sitting, in 
1668. The whole people combined in resisting the payment of quit-rents; 
and after disputing with the proprietors almost two years, they revolted, called 
a new Assembly, appointed a dissolute, illegitimate son of Sir George Carteret, 
governor, in May, 1672, and in July following, compelled Philip Carteret to 
leave the province. Preparations were in progress- to coerce the people into 
submission, when New Jersey, and all other portions of the territory claimed 
by the Duke of York, fell into the hands of the Dutch,'' in August, 1673. On 
the restoration of the territory to the English,* in November, 1674, the Duke 
of York procured a new charter,^ and then, regardless of the rights of Berkeley 
and Carteret, he appointed Edmund Andros, "the tyrant of New England," * 

' Page 92. 

"^ Page 94. The province was called New Jersey, in honor of Carteret, who was governor of 
the island of Jersey, in the Britisli Channel, during the civil war. He was a staunch royalist, and 
was tlio last commander to lower the royal flag, wlien the Parliament had triumphed. 

^ This was a sort of constitution, which provided for a goveniment to be composed of a governor 
and council appointed by the proprietors, and an Assembly chosen by the freeholders of the prov- 
ince. The legislative power resided in the Assembly; the executive in the governor. The Council 
and the Assembly were eacli restricted to twelve members. 

* So Ciilled, in honor of Elizabeth, wife of Sir George Carteret. 

* Page 147. " Page 147. ' Pago 147. " Page 130. 



160 THE COLONIES. [1664, 

governor of the ■\t1io1c domain. Carteret demurred, and the duke partially 
restored his rights ; not, however, without leaving Andres a sufficient pretense 
for asserting his authority, and producing amioyances. Berkeley had become 
disgusted, and sold his interest in the province [March 28, 1G74] to Edward 
Byllinge, an English Quaker. Pecuniary embarrassment caused Byllinge to 
assign his interest to William Penn, and two others,' in 1675. These purchas- 
ers, unwilling to maintain a political union with other parties, successfully 
negotiated with Carteret for a division of the province, which took place on the 
11th of July, 1676. Carteret received the eastern portion as his share, and 
the Quakers the western part. From that time the divisions were known as 
East and West Jersey. 

The West Jersey proprietors gave the people a remarkably liberal consti- 
tution of government [March 13, 1G77J ; and in 1G77, more than four hundred 
Quakers came from England and settled below the Baritan. Andros required 
them to acknowledge the authority of the Duke of York. They refused ; and 
the matter was referred to the eminent Sir William Jones (the oriental scholar) 
for adjudication, who decided against the claims of the duke. The latter sub- 
mitted to the decision, released both provinces from allegiance to him, and the 
Jerseys became independent of foreign control. The first popular assembly 
in West Jersey met at Salem, in November, 1681, and adopted a code of laws 
for the government of the people.^ 

Soon after the death of Carteret, in December, 1679, the trustees of his 
estate offered East Jersey for sale. It Avas purchased by William Penn and 
eleven of his brethren, on the 11th of February, 1682, who obtained a new 
charter, and on the 27th of July, 1683, appointed Bobert Barclay,' a very 
eminent Quaker preacher, from Aberdeen, governor for life. A large number 
of his sect came from Scotland and England ; and others from New England 
and Long Island settled in East Jersey to enjoy prosperity and repose. But 
repose, as well as the administration of Barclay, was of short duration; for 
when James succeeded Charles," he appeared to consider his contracts made 
while duke^ not binding upon his honor as khig. He sought to annul the 
American charters, and succeeded, as we have seen, in subverting the govern- 
ments of several,* through the instrumentahty of Andros. The Jerseys were 
sufferers in this respect, and were obliged to bow to the tyrant. When he was 
driven from the country in 1689," the provinces were left without regular gov- 
ernments, and for more than twelve years anarchy prevailed there. The claims 
of the proprietors to jurisdiction, were repudiated by the people; and in 1702. 
they gladly relinquished the government by surrendering it, on the 25th of 



' These purchasers immediately sold one half of their interest to the Earl of Perth, from whom 
the present town of Perth Amboy derives a part of its name. Amboy, or Amho, is an Indian 
name. 

"^ A remarkable law was enacted at that session. It provided that in all criminal cases, except 
treason, murder, and theft, the aggrieved party should have power to pardon the offender. 

^ He was the author of " An Apology for Quakers," a work highly esteemed by his sect. It 
was written in Latin, and translated into several continental languages. Barclay and Penn were 
intimate personal friends, and travelled much together. He died in Urv, in 1690, aged 42 years. 

* Page lia. * Pages 129, 156, and 158. "= Page 1.30. 



1755.] PENNSYLVANIA. 261 

April, to tlie crown.' The two provinces were united as p. royal domain, and 
placed under the government of Lord Cornbury, the licentious ruler of New 
York," in July folloAving. 

The pi'ovince of New Jersey remained a dependency of New York, with a 
distinct legislative assembly of its own, until 1738, when, through the efforts 
of Lewis Morris/ tlie connection was for ever severed. Morris was appointed 
the first royal governor of New Jersey, and managed public affairs with ability 
and general satisfaction. From that period until the independence of the colo- 
nies w^as declared, in 1776, the history of the colony presents but few events of 
interest to the general reader. 



CHAPTER YIII. 

PENNSYLVANIA. [1682.] 

The colonial career of Pennsylvania began when, in the autumn of 1682, 
William Penn arrived,^ and by a surrender by the agents of the Duke of York, 
and a proclamation in the presence of the popular Assembly, the Territories 
which now constitute the State of Delaware were united with his province.^ 
Already, Penn had proclaimed his .intention of being governed by tlie law of 
kindness in his treatment of the Indians ; and when he came, he proceeded to 
lay the foundation of his new State upon Truth and Justice.*^ Where the Ken- 
sington portion of the city of Philadelphia now stands, as we have elsewhere 
mentioned, he met the Delaware chiefs in council, under the leafless branches 
of a wude-spreading elm.' on the 4tli of November, 1682, and there made with 
them a solemn coveiraiit of peace and friendship, and paid them the stipulated 
price for their lands. The Indians were delighted, and their hearts melted with 
good feeling. Such treatment was an anomaly in the history of the intercourse 
of their race with the white people. Even then the fires of a disastrous war 
were smouldering on the New England frontiers.^ It w^as wonderful how the 
savage heart, so lately the dwelling of deepest hatred toward the white man, be- 
came the shrine of the holiest attribute of our nature. ' ' We will live in love 



' The proprietors retained their property in the soil, and their claims to quit-rents. Their 
organization has never ceased ; and unsold, barren tracts of land in "West Jersey are still held by 
that ancient tenure. - ^ Pago 149. 

^ Son of an officer in Cromwell's array, who purchased an estate near New York, known a.s 
Jforrisiana. He died in 174G. Apart of that estate vet [1856] remains in possession of the Morris 
family * Page 96. " Page 96. 

' By his direction, his agent, "William Markham, had opened a friendly correspondence with the 
Indians, and Penn himself had addressed a letter to them, assuring them of his love and brotherly 
feelings toward them. 

' The P(>nn Society of Philadelphia erected a monument upon the spot where the venerable elm 
stood, near the intersection of Hanover and Beach-streets, Kensington district. The tree was blown 
down in 1810, and was found to be 283 years old. The monument is upon the site of the tree, and 
bears suitable inscriptions. " King Philip's "War, page 92. 

11 



1G2 THE COLONIES. [1682. 

with William Pcnn and liis children," they said, '• as long as the moon and the 
sun shall endure." They were true to their promise— not a drop of Quaker 
blood was ever shed by an Indian. 

Having secured the lands, Penn's next care was to found a capital city. 
This he proceeded to do, immediately after the treaty with the Indians, upon 
lands purchased from the Swedes, lying between the Delaware and the Schuyl- 
kill Rivers. The boundaries of streets were marked upon the trunks of the 
chestnut, walnut, pine, and other forest trees which, covered the land,' and the 
city was named Philadelphia, which signifies brotherly love. Within twelve 
months almost a hundred houses were erected,^ and the Indians came daily 
with wild fowl and venison, as presents for their "good 
„i°^"2f"'* Father Penn." Never was a State blessed with a more 

■^~' -^ ''W'''Mi propitious beginning, and internal peace and prosperity 

"^^fl5|'"T^K^^l^^ marked its course Avhile the Quakers controlled its coun- 
^".rsa "■ ■ ^- j=Hf'|]J'}^^ i cils. 

I'i ,*^'' ^,di.L .-.>^ The proprietor convened a second Assembly at Phil- 

-■ ',T^^,jjjj)iiiiBff^^^ adelphia, in March, 1683, and then gave the people a 

r" ' "Charter of Liberties," signed and sealed by his own 

PEJs'N S IIOUSK. , . "^ 

hand. It was so ample and just, that the government 
was really a representative democracy. Free religious toleration Avas ordained, 
and laws for the promotion of public and private morality were framed.' Un- 
like other proprietors, Penn surrendered to the people his rights in the appoint- 
ment of officers ; and until his death, his honest and highest ambition appeared 
to be to promote the happiness of the colonists. Because of this happy relation 
between the people and the proprietor, and the security against Indian hostili- 
ties, Pennsylvania outstripped all of its sister colonies in rapidity of settlement 
and permanent prosperity. 

In August, 1684, Penn returned to England, leaving five members of the 
Council with Thomas Lloyd, as president, to administer the government during 
his absence. Soon afterward, the English Revolution occurred [1688] and 
king James was driven into exile.^ Penn's personal regard for James contin- 
ued after his fall ; and for that loyalty, which had a deeper spring than mere 
political considerations, he was accused of dissaffection to the new government, 
and sulfered imprisonments. In the mean while, discontents had sprung up in 



' This fact was the origin of the names of Chestnut, "Walnut, Pine, Spruce, and other streets in 
Philadelphia. For many years after the city was laid out, these living street-marks remained, and 
afibrded shade to the iniiabitants. 

- Markham, Penn's agent, erected a house for the proprietor's use, in 1G82. It is yet [1856] 
standing in Letitia court, the entrance to which is from Market-street, between Front and Second- 
streets. Another, and finer house, was occupied by Penn in 1700. It yet remains on the corner 
of Norris's alley and Second-street. It was the residence of General Arnold in 1778. Note 3, 
page 287. 

" It was ordained " that to prevent lawsuits, three arbitrators, to be called Peace Makers, should 
be appointed by the county courts, to hear and determine small differences between man and man ; 
that children should be taught some useful trade ; that factors wronging their employers should 
make satisfaction, and one third over ; that all causes for irreligion and vulgarity should bo repress- 
ed ; and that no man should be molested for his religious opinions. 

^ Note 7, page 113. 



1755.] THE CAROLINAS. 1G3 

Pennsylvania, and the '•three lower counties on the Delaware,'" offended at 
the action of some of the Council, withdrew from the Union" in April, 1691. 
Penn yielded to their wishes so far as to appoint a separate deputy governor 
for them. 

An important political change now occurred in the colony. Penn's provin- 
cial government was taken from him in 1692 [Oct. 31], and Pennsylvania was 
placed under the authority of Governor Fletcher, of New York, who reunited 
the Delaware counties [May, 1693], to the parent province. All suspicions of 
Penn's disloyalty having been removed in 1694, his chartered rights Avere 
restored to him [Aug. 30J, and he appointed his original agent, William Mark- 
ham, deputy governor. He returned to America in December, 1699, and was 
pained to find his people discontented, and clamorous for greater political priv- 
ileges. Considering their demands reasonable, he gave them a new charter, or 
frame of government [Nov. 6, 1701], more liberal in its concessions than the 
former. It was cheerfully accepted by the Pennsylvania people, but those of 
the Delaware territories, whose delegates had already Avithdrawn from the 
Assembly [Oct. 20], evidently aiming at independence, declined it. Penn 
acquiesced in their decision, and allowed them a distinct Assembly. This satis- 
fied them, and their first independent legislature was convened at Newcastle in 
1703. Although Pennsylvania and Delaware ever afterward continued to have 
separate legislatures, they were under the same governor until the Revolution 
in 1776. 

A few weeks after adjusting difficulties, and granting the new charter, Penn 
returned to England [Dec, 1701], and never visited America again. His 
departure was hastened by the ripening of a ministerial project for abolishing 
all the proprietary governments in America. His health soon afterward de- 
clined, and at his death he left his American possessions to his three sons 
(Thomas, John, and Richard), then minors, who continued to administer the 
government, chiefly through deputies, until the War for Independence in 1776. 
Then it became a free and independent State, and the commonwealth purchased 
all the claims of Penn's heirs in the province, for about five hundred and eighty 
thousand dollars.^ 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE CAROLINAS. [1G65— 1680.] 

Notwithstanding the many failures which had dampened the ardor of 
English speculators, w^ho had engaged in planting settlements in America, hope 
still remained buoyant. Success finally crowned the efforts in New England 

' Page 96. « Page 96. 

' On account of the expenses incurred in Pennsylvania, Penn was compelled to borrow $30,000, 
and mortgage his province as security. This was the commencement of tlie State debt of Pennsyl- 
vania, now [1856] amounting to about $-10,000,000. 



](J4 THE COLONIES. [1665. 

and further south, and the proprietors of the CaroL'nas, when settlements 
within that domain became permanent/ and tides of emigration from various 
sources flowed thitherward, began to have gorgeous visions of an empire in 
America, that should outshine those of the Old World. It then became their 
first care to frame a constitution of government, with functions adequate to the 
grand design, and ta this task, the earl of Shaftesbury, one of the ablest states- 
men of his time, and John Locke, the eminent philosopher, Avere called. They 
completed their labors in March, 1669, and the instrument was callal the 
FhindamcntdJ Const ituf ions.'' It was in the highest degree monarchical in its 
character and tendency, and contemplated the transplantation, in America, of 
all the ranks and aristocratic distinctions of European society.' The spirit of 
the whole thing was adverse to the feelings of the people, and its practical 
development was an impossibility ; so, after a contest between proprietors and 
colonists, for twenty years, the magnificent scheme was abandoned, and the 
people were allowed to govern themselves, in their own more simple way." The 
disorders which prevailed when the first attempts were made to impose this 
scheme of government upon the people, soon ripened into rebellion, especially in 
the Albemarle^ or northern colony.^ Excessive taxation and commercial restric- 
tions bore heavily upon the industry of the people, and engendered wide-spread 
discontent. This was fostered by refugees from Virginia, after Bacon's rebel- 
lion, in 1676,^ Avho sought shelter among the people below the Roanoke. They 
scattered, broad-cast, over a generous soil, vigorous ideas of popular freedom, 
and a year after Bacon's death, ^ the people of the Albemarle County Colony"- 
revolted. The immediate cause of this movement was the attempt of the acting 
governor to enforce the revenue laws against a New England vessel. Led on 
l)y John Culpepper, a refugee from the Carteret County Colony of South 
Carolina,' the people seized the chief magistrate [Dec. 10, 1677] and the pub- 
lic funds, imprisoned him and six of his council, called a new Assembly, ap- 
pointed a new magistrate and judges, and for two years conducted the afKiirs of 
government independent of foreign control. Culpepper went to England to 
plead the cause of the people, and was arrested and tried on a charge of treason. 

' Pages 9*7 and 98. 

^ It consists of one Imndred and twenty articles, and is supposed to have been the production, 
chiefly, of the mind of Sliaftesbury. 

^ Tliere were to be two orders of nobility : the hiprher to consist of landgraves, or earls, the 
lower of caciques, or harons. The territory was to be divided into counties, each containing 480,000 
acres, with one landgrave, and two caciques. There were also to be lords of manors, who, like the 
nobles, might hold courts and exercise judicial functions. Persons holding fifty acres were to be 
freeholders; the tenants held no political franchise, and could never attaiu to a higher rank. The 
four estates of proprietors, earls, barons, and commons, were to sit in one legislative chamber. The 
proprietors were always to be eight in number, to possess the whole judicial power, and have the 
supreme control of all tribunals. The connnons were to have four members in the legislature to 
every three of the nobility. Thus an aristocratic majority was always secured, and the real repre- 
sentatives of the people had no power. Every religion was professedly tolerated, but the Church 
■ of England, only, was declared to be orthodox. Such is an outline of the absurd scheme proposed 
for governing the free colonies of the Carolinas. 

* A governor, with a council of twelve — six chosen by the proprietors, and six by the Assembly 
— and a House of Delegates chosen by the fi-ceholders. 

' Page 97. ° Page 110. ' Pago 112. 

« Page 97. ° Page 98. 



1680.] THE CAROLINAS. IgJ 

Shaftesbury procured his acquittal, and he returned to the Carolinas.' Quiet 
was restored to the colony, and until the arrival of the unprincipled Seth 
Sothel (one of tlie proprietors), as governor, the people enjoyed repose. Thus 
early the inhabitants of that feeble colony practically asserted the grand politi- 
cal maxim, that taxation without representation is tyranny,^ for the defense 
of which our Revolutionary fathers fought, a century afterward. 

Governor Sothel arrived in North Carolina in 1083. Martin says that 
" the dark shades of his character were not relieved by a single ray of virtue ;" 
and Chalmers asserts that "the annals of delegated authority included no name 
so infamous as Sothel." He plundered the people, cheated the proprietors, and 
on all occasions prostituted his office to purposes of private gain. After endur- 
ing his oppression almost six years, the people seized him [1G89], and were 
about sending him to England to answer their accusations before the proprietors, 
when he asked to be tried by the colonial Assembly. The favor was granted, 
and he was sentenced to banishment for one year, and a perpetual disquali- 
fication for the office of governor. He withdrew to the southern colony, where 
we shall meet him again. ^ His successor, Philip Ludwell, an energetic, incor- 
ruptible man, soon redressed the wrongs of the people, and restored order and 
good feelings. Governors Harvey and Walker also maintained quiet and good 
will among the people. And the good Quaker, John Archdale, who came to 
govern both Carolinas in 1695, placed the colony in a position for attaining 
future prosperity, hitherto unknown. 

While these events were transpiring in the northern colony, the people of 
the Carteret,^ or southern colony, were steadily advancing in wealth and num- 
bers. Their first popular legislature of which we have records, was convened 
in 1674,5 but it exhibited an unfavorable specimen of republican government. 
Jarring interests and conflicting creeds produced violent debates and irreconcil- 
able discord. For a long time the colony was distracted by quarrels, and 
anarchy prevailed. At length the Stono Indians gathered in bands, and plun- 
dered the plantations of grain and cattle, and even menaced the settlers with 
destruction. The appearance of this common enemy healed their dissensions, 
and the people went out as brotbers to chastise the plunderei-s. They com- 
pletely subdued the Indians, in 1680. Many of them were made prisoners, 
and sold for slaves in the West Indies, and the Stonos never aftei'ward had a 
tribal existence. 

Wearied by the continual annoyance of the Indians, many English families 



' Culpepper afterward became surveyor-general of the province, and in 1680, he was employed 
in laying out the new city of Charleston.' [See next page.] His previous expulsion from the southern 
colony, was on account of his connection with a rebellious movement in 1672. 

^ Page 211. 3 Page 167. * Page 98. 

* The settlers brought with them an unfinished copy of the " Fundamental Constitutions:' but 
they at once perceived tiio impossibility of conformity to that scheme of government. They held a 
"parliamentary convention" in 1672, and twenty delegates were elected by the people to act with 
the governor and the council, as a legislature. Thus early, representative government was e.stab- 
lished, but its operations seem not to have been very successful, and a legislature proper, of which 
we have any record, was not organized until 1674, when au upper and a lower House was estab- 
lished, and laws for the province were enacted. 



166 



THE COLONIES. 



[1665. 




CHARLESTON IN 1680. 



crossed the Ashley, and seated themselves upon the more eligible locality of 
Oyster Point, where they founded the present city of Charleston,' in 1680. 

There a flourishing village soon appeared ; 
and after the subjugation of the savages,^ 
the old settlement was abandoned, and now 
not a vestige of it remains upon the culti- 
vated plantation at Old Town, where it 
stood. The Dutch settlers'^ spread over 
the country along the Edisto and San- 
tee, and planted the seeds of future flour- 
ishing communities, while immigrants from 
difierent parts of Europe and from New 
England swelled the population of Charles- 
ton and vicinity. Nor did they neglect political affairs. While they were 
vigilant in all that pertained to their material interests, they were also aspir- 
ants, even at that early day, for political independence. 

Another popular legislature was convened at Charleston in 1682. It ex- 
hibited more harmony than the first," and several useful laws were framed. 
Emigration was now pouring in a tide of population more rapid than any of the 
colonies below New England had yet experienced. Ireland, Scotland,^ Holland, 
and France, contributed largely to the flowing stream. In 1686-7, quite a 
large number of Huguenots, who had escaped from the fiery persecutions which 
were revived in France by the revocation of the Edict of Nantes,^ landed at 
Charleston. English hatred of the French'' caused the settlers to look with 
jealousy upon these refugees, and for more than ten years [1686 to 1697J the 
latter Avere denied the rights of citizenship. 

Shaftesbury's scheme of government was as distasteful to the people of 
South Carolina, as to those of the northern colony,^ and they refused to accept 
it. They became very restive, and seemed disposed to cast off all allegiance to 
the proprietors and the mother country. At this crisis, James Colleton, a 
brother of one of the proprietors, was appointed governor [1686 J, and was 
vested with full powers to bring the colonists into submission. His adniiuistra- 
tion of about four years was a very turbulent one. He was in continual colli- 

' Note 1, page 165. The ahove engraving illustrates the manner of fortifying towns, as a de- 
fense against foes. It exhibits the walls of Charleston in 1 680, and the location of churches in 
1704. The points marked a « a, etc., are bastions for cannons. P. English church; Q, French 
church ; R, Independent church ; S, Anabaptist church ; and T, Quaker meeting-house. 

* Page 165. 

^ They had founded the village of Jamesto-mi several miles up the Ashley River. 

" Page 164. 

^ In 1684, Lord Cardon, and ten Scotch fomilies, who had suffered persecution, came to South 
Carolina, and'settled at Port Royal. The Spaniards at St. Augustine claimed jurisdiction over Port 
Rojral; and during the absence "of Cardon [1686], they attacked and dispersed the settlers, and des- 
olated their plantations. 

^ In the city of Nantes, Henry the Fourth of France issued an edict, in 1598, in favor of the 
Huguenots, or Protestants, allowing them free toleration. The profligate Louis the Fourteenth, 
stunu; with remorse in his old age, sought to gain the favor of Heaven by bringing his whole people 
into the bosom of the Roman Catholic Church. He revoked the fomous edict in 1686, and instantly 
the tires of persecution were kindled throughout the empire. Many thousands of the Protestants 
left France, and found refutre in other countries. ' Page 180. '* Page 97 



1155.] THE CAROLINAS. IQ^ 

sion -with the people, and at length drove them to open rebellion. Thej seized 
the public records, imprisoned the secretary of the province, and called a new- 
Assembly. Pleading the danger of an Indian or Spanish invasion,' the gov- 
ernor called out the militia, and proclaimed the province to be under martial 
law." This measure only increased the exasperation of the people, and he was 
impeached, and banished from the province by the Assembly, in 1G90. 

AVhile this turbulence and misrule "was at its height, Sothel arrived from 
North Carolina, pursuant to his sentence of banishment,^ and the people un- 
wisely consented to his assumption of the office of governor.* They soon 
repented their want of judgment. For two years he plundered and oppressed 
them, and then [1692] the Assembly impeached and banished him also. Then 
came Philip Ludlow to re-establish the authority of the proprietors, but the 
people, thoroughly aroused, resolved not to tolerate even so good a man as he, 
if his mission was to enforce obedience to the absurd Fundamental Coiistitu- 
tioiis.^ After a brief and turluilent administration, he gladly withdrew to Vir- 
ginia, and soon afterward [1GU3], the proprietors abandoned Shaftesbury's 
scheme, and the good Quaker, John Archdale, was sent, in 1C95, to administer 
a more simple and republican form of government, for both the Carolinas. Ilia 
administration was short, but highly beneficial ;" and the people of South Car- 
olina always looked back to the efforts of that good man, with gratitude. He 
healed dissensions, established equitable laws, and so nearly effected an entire 
reconciliation of the English to the French settlers, that in the year succeeding 
his departure from the province, the Assembly admitted the latter [1697] to all 
the privileges of citizens and freemen. From the close of Archdalc's adminis- 
tration, the progress of the two Carolina colonies should be considered as separ- 
ate and distinct, although they were not politically separated until 1729.'' 

NORTH CAROLINA. 

We may properly date the permanent prosperity of North Carolina from the 
adminstration of Archdale,* when the colonists began to turn their attention to 
the interior of the country, where richer soil invited the agriculturist, and the 
fur of the beaver and otter allured the adventurous hunter. The Indians along 
the sea-coast were melting away like frost in the sunbeams. The powerful 
Hatteras tribe,' which numbered three thousand in Raleigh's time, were reduced 
to fifteen bowmen ; another tribe had entirely disappeared ; and the remnants 
of some others had sold their lands or lost them by fraud, and were driven back 
to the deep wilderness. Indulgence in strong drinks, and other vices of civiliz- 



' Tho Spaniards at St. Augustine liad menaced the English settlements in South Carolina, and, 
as we have seen [note 5, page ] 66], had actually broken up a little Scotch colony at Port Royai 
^ Note 8, page 170. " ' Page 165. 

* On his arrival, Sothel took sides with the people against Colleton, and thus, in the moment of 
their anger, he unfortunately gained their good will and confidence. * Page 164. 

* The culture of rice was introduced into South Carolina during Archdale's administration. 
Some seed was given to the governor by the captain of a vessel from Madagascar. It was distrib- 
uted among several planters, and thus its cultivation began, 

' Page 171. 8 p.,g^, ^e5_ » -^^^^ 5^ p^^^ 20, 



108 THE COLONIES. [1GG5. 

ation, bad decimated them, and their beautiful bind, all the way to the Yadkin 
and Catawba, was speedily opened to the sway of the white man. 

At the commencement of the eighteenth century, religion began to exert an 
influence in North Carolina. The first Anglican' church edifice was then built 
in Chowan county, in 1705. The Quakers' multiplied ; and in 1707, a com- 
pany of Huguenots,^ who had settled in Virginia, came and sat down upon the 
beautiful banks of the Trent, a tributary of the Neuse River. Two years later 
[1709 j, a hundred German families, driven from their homes on the Rhine, by 
persecution, penetrated the interior of North Carolina, and under Count Graf- 
fenried, founded settlements along the head waters of the Neuse, and upon the 
Roanoke. While settlements were thus spreading and strengthening, and gen- 
eral prosperity blessed the province, a fearful calamity fell upon the inhabitants 
of the interior. The broken Indian tribes made a last efibrt, in 1711, to regain 
the beautiful country they had lost. The leaders in the conspiracy to crush 
the white people, were the Tuscaroras^ of the inland region, and the Corees^ 
further south and near the sea-board. They fell like lightning from the clouds 
upon the scattered German settlements along the Roanoke and Pamlico Sound. 
In one night [Oct. 2, 1711], one hundred and thirty persons perished by the 
hatchet. Along Albemarle Sound, the savages SAvept with the knife of mur- 
der in one hand, and the torch of desolation in the other, and for three days 
they scourged the Avhite people, until disabled by fatigue and drunkenness. 
Those who escaped the massacre called upon their brethren of the southern 
colony for aid, and Colonel Barnwell, with a party of Carolinians and friendly 
Indians of the southern nations,'^ marched to their relief He drove the Tus- 
caroras to their fortified town in the present Craven county, and there made a 
treaty of peace with them. His troops violated the treaty on their way back, 
by outrages upon the Indians, and soon hostilities were renewed. Late in the 
year [Dec, 1712], Colonel Moore'^ arrived from South Carolina with a few white 
men and a large body of Indians, and drove the Tuscaroras to their fort in the 
present Greene county, wherein [March, 1713] he made eight hundred of them 
prisoners. The remainder of the Tuscaroras fled northward m June, and join- 
ing their kindred on the southern borders of Lake Ontario, they formed the 
sixth nation of the celebrated Iroquois confederacy in the province of New 
York. 8 A treaty of peace was made with the Corees in 1715, and North Car- 
olina never afterward suffered from Indian hostilities.^ 

SOUTH CAROLINA. 

Although really united, tbo two colonies acted independently of each other 
from the close of the seventeenth century. Soon after the commencement of 



' The established Church of England was so called, to distinguish it from the Romish Church. 
"" Page 122. ^ Page 49. * Page 25. ^ Page 20. 

° They consisted of Creeks, Catawbas, Cherokees, and Yamassees. See pages 26 to 30, inclusive. 
' A son of James Moore, who was governor of South Carolina in 1700. ^ Page 23. 

" The province issued bills of credit (for the first time) to the amount of about forty thousand 
dollars, to defray the expenses of the war. 



1755.] THE CAROLINA S. 1(39 

Queen Anne's War' [May, 1702], Governor Moore of South Cuvoliua, proposed 
an expedition against the Spaniards at St. Augustine.^ The Assembly assented, 
and appropriated almost ten thousand dollars for the service. Twelve hundred 
men (one half Indians) were raised, and proceeded, in two divisions, to the 
attack. The main division, under the governor, went by sea, to blockade the 
liarbor, and the remainder proceeded along the coast, under the command of 
Colonel Daniels. The latter arrived first, and attacked and plundered the 
town. The Spaniards retired within their fortress with provisions for four 
months ; and as the Carolinians had no artillery, their position Avas impreg- 
nable. Daniels was then sent to Jamaica, in the West Indies, to procure bat- 
tery cannon, but before his return, two Spanish vessels had appeared, and so 
frightened Governor Moore that he raised the blockade, and fled. Daniels 
barely escaped capture, on his return, but he reached Charleston in safety. 
This ill-advised expedition burdened the colony with a debt of more than 
twenty-six thousand dollars, for the payment of which, bills of credit were 
issued. This was the first emission of paper money in the Carolinas. 

A more successful expedition was undertaken by Governor Moore, in De- 
cember, 1703, against the Apalachian^ Indians, who were in league with the 
Spaniards. Their chief villages were between the Alatamaha and Savannah 
Rivers. These were desolated. Almost eight hundred Indians were taken 
prisoners, and the whole territory of the Apalachians was made tributary to the 
English. The province had scarcely become tranquil after this chastisement of 
the Indians, Avhen a new cause for disquietude appeared. Some of the proprie- 
tors had long; cherished a scheme for establishino; the Anglican Church, < as the 
State religion, in the Carolinas. When Nathaniel Johnson succeeded Governor 
Moore, he found a majority of churchmen in the Assembly, and by their aid, 
the wishes of the proprietors were gratified. The Anglican Church was made 
the established religion, and Dissenters^ were excluded from all public offices. 
This was an usurpation of chartered rights ; and the aggrieved party laid the 
matter before the imperial ministry. Their cause was sustained ; and by order 
of Parliament, the colonial Assembly, in November, 1706, repealed the law of 
disfranchisement, but the Church maintained its dominant position until the 
Revolution. 

The ire of the Spaniards was greatly excited by the attack upon St. Augus- 
tine," and an expedition, composed of five French and Spanish vessels," with a 
large body of troops, was sent from Havana to assail Charleston, take posses- 
sion of the province, and annex it to the Spanish domain of Florida.* The 
squadron crossed Charleston bar in May, 170G, and about eight hundred troops 
were landed at different points. The people seized their arms, and, led by the 
governor and Colonel Rhett, they drove the invaders back to their vessels, after 

> Pago 135. ' Page 51. 

^ A tribe of the irobiliaii family [page 29] situated soutli of the Savannah River. 
* Note 1, page 168. '' Note 2, page 70. " Page 51. 

' It will be remembered [see page 135] that iu 1702, England declared war against France, and 
that Spain was a party to the quarrel. * Page 42. 



170 THE COLONIES. [1665. 

killing or capturing almost three hundred men. Thej also captured a French 
vessel, with its crew. It was a complete victory. So the storm which appeared 
so suddenly and threatening, Avas dissipated in a day, and the sunshine of peace 
and prosperity again gladdened the colony. 

A few years later, a more formidable tempest brooded over the colony, 
when a general Indian confederacy w\is secretly formed, to exterminate the 
white people by a single blow. Within forty days, in the spring of 1715, the 
Indian tribes from the Cape Fear to the St. Mary's, and back to the mountains, 
had coalesced in the conspiracy ; and before the people of Charleston had any 
intimation of danger, one hundred white victims had been sacrificed in the 
i-omote settlements. The Creeks,' Yamasees,^ and Apalachians^ on the south, 
confederated with the Cherokees,^ Catawbas,* and Congarees'' on the west, in all six 
thousand strono; ; while more than a thousand warriors issued from the Neuse 
region, to avenge their misfortunes in the wars of 1712-13.' It was a cloud 
of fearful portent that hung in the sky ; and the people were filled with terror, 
for they knew not at what moment the consuming lightning might leap forth. 
At this fearful crisis, Governor Craven acted with the utmost wisdom and 
energy. He took measures to prevent men from leaving the colony ; to secure 
all the arms and ammunition that could be found, and to arm faithful negroes 
to assist the white people. He declared the province to be under martial law,* 
and then, at the head of twelve hundred men, black and white, he marched to 
meet the foe who were advancing with the knife, hatchet, and torch, in fearful 
activity. The Indians were at first victorious, but after several bloody encount- 
ers, the Yamassees and their southern neighbors were driven across the Savan- 
nah [May, 1715], and halted not until they found refuge under Spanish guns 
at St. Augustine. The Cherokees and their northern neighbors had not yet 
engaged in the war, and they returned to their hunting grounds, deeply 
impressed Avith the strength and greatness of the white people. 

And now the proprietary government of South Carolina Avas drawing to a 
close. The governors being independent of the people, were often haughty and 
exacting, and the inhabitants had borne the yoke of their rule for many years, 
with great impatience. While their labor was building up a prosperous State, 
the proprietors refused to assist them in times of danger, or to re-imburse 
their expenses in the protection of the province from invasion. The Avhole 
burden of debt incurred in the Avar Avith the Yamassees, Avas left upon the 
shoulders of the people. The proprietors not only refused to pay any por- 
tion of it, but enforced their claims for quit-rents Avith great severity. The 
people saAv no hope in the future, but in royal rule and protection. So they 
met in convention ; resolved to forswear all allegiance to the proprietors ; and 
on Governor Johnson's refusal to act as chief magistrate, under the king, they 



• Page 30. "^ Page 30. ' Note 3, page 168. * Page 27. "^ Page 26. 

® This was a small tribe that inhabited the country in the vicinity of the present city of Colum- 
bia, in South Carolina. ' Page 168. 

" Martial law may be proclaimed by rulers, in an emergency, and the civil law, for the time 
being, is made subservient to the military. Tlie object is to allow immediate and energetic action 
for repelling invasions, or for other purposes. 



1T55.] GEORGIA. 



171 



appointed [December 21, 1719] Colonel Moore' governor of the colony. The 
matter was laid before the imperial government, when the colonists were sus- 
tained, and South Carolina became a royal province.'' 

The people of North Carolina' also resolved on a change of governraent- 
and after a continued controversy for ten years, the proprietors, in 1729, sold 
to the king, for about eighty thousand dollars, all their claims to the soil and 
incomes in both provinces. North and South Carolina Avere then separated. 
George Burrington was appointed the first royal governor over the former, and 
Robert Johnson over the latter. From that period until the commencement of 
the French and Indian war,' the general history of the Carolinas presents but 
few features of interest, except the efforts made for defending the colony against 
the Spaniards and the Indians. The peonlo gained very little by a change of 
owners; and during forty-five years, until the revolution made the people 
independent, there was a succession of disputes with the royal governors. 



CHAPTER X . 

GEORGIA. [17 3 2.] 

The colony founded by Oglethorpe on the Savannah River rapidly 
increased in numbers, and within eight years, twenty-five hundred immiij-mnts 
were sent over, at an expense to the trustees' of four hundred thousand dollars. 
Yet prosperity did not bless the enterprise. Many of the settlers were unac- 
customed to habits of industry, and were mere drones ; and as the use of slave 
labor was prohibited, tillage was neglected. Even the industrious Scotch, Ger- 
man, and Swiss families wlio o:ime over i-)revious to 1740, could not give that 
vitality to industrial pursuits, which was necessary to a development of the 
resources of the country. Anxious for the permanent growth of tlie coLiiy, 
Oglethorpn wont to Fngb-nid in 1784, and returned in 1736, witli aljout three 
hundred immigrants. Among them were one hundred and fifty Hi "li landers, 
Avell skilled in military affairs. These constituted the first army of the colony 
during its early struggles. John Wesley, founder of the Methodist denom- 
ination, also came Avith Oglethorpe, to make Georgia a religious colony, and to 
spread the gospel among the Indians. He was unsuccessful ; for his strict 
moral doctrines, his fearless denunciations of vice, and his rigid exercise of 
ecclesiastical authority made him quite unpopular among the great mass of the 
colonists, who winced at restraint. The eminent George Whitefield also visited 
Georgia in 1738, when only twenty-three years of age, and succeeded in estab- 
lishing an orphan asylum near Savannah, which flourished many years, and 

' Note 1, page 168. 

' The first governor, by royal appointment, was Francis Xieliolson, who had been successively 
governor of New York [page 144], Maryland, Virginia, and Nova Scotia. 

' Page 1G7. * Pago 179. » Page 100. 



172 THE COLONIES. [1T32. 

was a real blessing. The Christian efforts of those men, prosecuted with the 
most sincere desire for the good of their fellow-mortals, were not appreciated. 
Their seed fell upon stony ground, and after the death of Whitefield, in 1770, 
his " House of JNIercj" in Georgia, deprived of his sustaining influence, became 
a desolation. 

A cloud of trouble appeared in the Southern horizon. The rapid increase 
of the new colony excited the jealousy of the Spaniards at St. Augustine, and 
the vigilant Oglethorpe, expecting such a result, prepared to oppose any hos- 
tile movements against his settlement. He established a fort on the site of 
Auo-usta, as a defence against the Indians, and he erected fortifications at 
Darien, on Cumberland Island, at Frederica (St. Simon's Island), and on the 
north bank of the St. John, the southern boundary of the English claims. 
Spanish commissioners came from St. Augustine to protest against these prepar- 
ations, and to demand the immediate evacuation of the whole of Georgia, and 
of all South Carolina below Port Royal.' Oglethorpe, of course, refused com- 
pliance, and the Spaniards threatened him with war. In the winter of 173G-7, 
Oglethorpe went to England to make preparations to meet the exigency. He 
returned in October following, bearing the commission of a brigadier, and lead- 
ing a regiment of six hundred well-disciplined troops, for the defense of the 
whole southern frontier of the English possessions.'' But for two years their 
services were not much needed ; then war broke out between England and 
Spain [November, 1739J, and Oglethorpe prepared an expedition against St. 
Augustine. In May, 1740, he entered Florida Avith four hundred of his best 
troops, some volunteers from South Carolina, and a large body of friendly 
Creek Indians f in all more than two thousand men. His first conquest was 
Fort Dirgo, twenty miles from St. Augustine. Then Fort Moosa, within two 
miles of the city, surrendered ; but when he appeared before the town and for- 
tress, and demanded instant submission, ho was answered by a defiant refusal. 
A small fleet under Captain Price blockaded the harbor, and for a time cut off 
supplies from the Spaniards, but swift-winged galleys' passed through the block- 
ading fleet, and supplied the garrison Avith several weeks' provisions. Ogle- 
thorpe had no artillery with which to attack the fortress, And being warned by 
the increasing heats of summer, and sickness in his camp, not to wait for their 
supplies to bennme exhausted, lie raised the siege and returned to Savauiiah. 

The ire of the Spaniards was aroused, and they, in turn, prepared to invade 
Georgia in the summer of 1742. An armament, fitted out at Havana and St. 
Augustine, and consisting of thirty-six vessels, with more than three thousand 
troops, entered the harbor of St. Simon's, and landed a little above the town 
of the same name, on the IGtli of July, 1742, and erected a battery of twenty 
guns. Oglethorpe had been apprised of the intentions of the Spaniards, and 



' Note 5, page 1G6. 

° His commission gave him the command of the militia of South Carolina also, and he stood as 
a guard between the English and Spanish possessions of the southern country. ^ Page 30. 

* A low built vessel propelled by both sails and oars. The war vessels of the ancients were all 
galleys. See Norman vessel, page 35. 



1732.] GEORGIA. 173 

after unsuccessfully applying to the governor of South Curolinii for troops and 
supplies, he marched to St. Simon's, and made his head- quarters at his i)rinci- 
fortress at Frederica.' He was at Fort Simon, near tlie landing place of the 
invaders, with less than eight hundred men, exclusive of Indians, when the 
enemy appeared. He immediately spiked the guns of the fort, destroyed his 
stores, and retreated to Frederica. There he anxiously awaited hoped-for rein- 
forcements and supplies from Carolina, and then he successfully repulsed several 
detachments of the Spaniards, who attacked him. He fnially resolved to make 
a night assault upon the enemy's battery, at St. Simon's. A deserter (a 
French soldier) defeated his plan ; but the sagacity of Oglethorpe caused the 
miscreant to be instrumental in driving the invaders from the coast. He bri;jed 
a Spanish prisoner to carry a letter to the deserter, which contained information 
respecting a British fleet that was about to attack St. Augustine.^ Of course 
the letter was handed to the Spanish commander, and the Frenchman Avas 
arrested as a spy. The intelligence in Oglethorpe's letter alarmed the enemy; 
and while the officers were holding a council, some Carolina vessels, with sup- 
plies for the garrison at Frederica, appeared in the distance. Believing them 
to be part of the British fleet alluded to, the Spaniards determined to attack 
the Georgians immediately, and then hasten to St. Augustine. On their march 
to assail Frederica, they were ambuscaded in a swamp. Great slaughter of the 
invaders ensued, and the place is still called BJooclij j^arsh. The survivors 
retreated in confusion to their vessels, and sailed immediately to St. Augustine.' 
On their way, they attacked the English fort at the southern extremity of Cum- 
berland Island,^ on the 19th of July, but were repulsed with the loss of two 
galleys. The whole expedition Avas so disastrous to the Spaniards, that the 
commander (Don Manuel de Monteano) was dismissed from the service. Ogle- 
thorpe's stratagem saved Georgia, and, perhaps. South Carolina, from utter 
ruin. 

Having fairly established his colony, Oglethorpe Avent to England in 1740, 
and never returned to Georgia, where, for ten years, he had nobly lal)ored to 
secure an attractive asylum for the oppressed.^ He left the province in a tran- 
quil state. The mild military rule under which the people had lived, Avas 
changed to civil government in 1743, administered by a president and council, 
under the direction of the trustees," yet the colony continued to languish. 
Several causes combined to produce this condition. We have already alluded 
to the inefficiency of most of the earlier settlers, and the prohibition of slave 
labor.' They were also depriA^ed of the privileges of commerce and of traffic 



* The remains of Fort Frederica yet [1856] form a very picturesque ruin on the plantation of 
W. W. Hazzard, Esq., of St. Simon's Island. 

- Oglethorpe addressed the Frenchman as if he was a spy of the English. He directed the 
deserter to represent the Georgians as in a weak condition, to advise the Spaniards to attack tlicra 
immediately, and to persuade the Spaniards to remain three days longer, within which time six 
liritish men-of-war, and two thousand men, from Carolina, would probably enter the harbor of St. 
Augustine. 

* They first burned Fort Simon, but in their haste they left several of their cannons and a 
quantity of provisions behind them. 

* Fort "\Villiam. There was another small fort on the northern end of the island, called Fort 
Andrew. ^ Page 100. " Pago 100. ' Page 171. 



174 THE COLONIES. [1492. 

witli the Indians ; and were not allowed the ownership, in fee, of the lands 
which they cultivated/ In consequence of these restrictions, there were no 
incentives to labor, except to supply daily wants. General discontent pre- 
vailed. They saw the Carolinians growing rich by the use of slaves, and by 
commerce with the West Indies. Gradually the restrictive laws were evaded. 
Slaves were brought from Carolina, and hired, first for a short period, and then 
for a hundred years, or for life. The price paid for life-service was the money 
value of the slave, and the transaction was, practically, a sale and purchase. 
Then slave-ships came to Savannah directly from Africa ; fdave labor was gen- 
erally used in 1750, and Georgia became a planting State. In 1752, at the 
expiration of the twenty-one years named in the patent,- the trustees gladly 
resigned the charter into the hands of the king, and from that time until the 
Revolution, Georgia remained a royal province. 



CHAPTER XI 



A RETEOSPECT. [1492 — ITS 6.] 

Ix the preceding pages we have considered the principal events which 
occurred within the domain of our Republic from the time of first discoveries, 
in 1492, to the commencement of the last inter-colonial war between the En- 
glish and French settlers, a period of about two hundred and sixty years. 
During that time, fifteen colonies were planted,^ thirteen of wdiich Avere com- 
menced within the space of about fifty-six years — from 1607 to 1673. By the 
union of Plymouth and Massachusetts,* and Connecticut and New Haven/ the 
number of colonies was reduced to thirteen, and these were they which went 
into the revolutionary contest in 1775. The provinces of Canada and Nova 
Scotia, conquered by the English, remained loyal, and to this day they continue 
to be portions of the British empire. 

In the establishment of the several colonies, which eventually formed the 
thirteen United States of America, several European nations contributed vig- 
orous materials; and people of opposite habits, tastes, and religious faith, became 
commingled, after making impressions of their distinctive characters where their 
influence was first felt. England furnished the largest proportion of colonists, 
and her children always maintained sway in the government and industry of the 
whole country ; while Scotland, Ireland, Germany, Holland, France, Sweden, 
Denmark, and the Baltic region, contributed large quotas of people and other 
colonial instrumentalities. Churchmen and Dissenters,^ Roman Catholics and 

» Pa<rell6. ' Page 100. 

° Yirginia, Pljinouth, Massachusetts Bay, New Hampshire, Connecticut, New Haven, Rhode 
Island. New York, New Jersev, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, North and South Carolina, and 
Georgia. ' * Page 132. ' ' Page 89. " Note 2, page 76. 



175G.] A RETROSPECT. . J75 

Quakers/ came and sat down by the side of each other. For a while, the dis- 
sonance of nations and creeds prevented entire harmony ; but the freedom en- 
joyed, the perils and hardships encountered and endured, the conflicts with 
pagan savages on one hand, and of hierarchical^ and governmental oppression 
on the other, which they maintained for generations, shoulder to shoulder, dif- 
fused a brotherhood of feeling throughout the whole social body of the colonists, 
and resulted in harmony, sympathy, and love. And when, as children of one 
family, they loyally defended the integrity of Great Bi'itain (then become the 
'•mother country'' of nearly all) against the aggressions of the French and In- 
dians' [1756 to 1763], and yet were compelled, by the unkindness of that 
mother, to sever the filial lK)nd' [1776], their hearts beat as Avith one pulsation, 
and they struck the dismembering blow as with one hand. 

There was a great diversity of character exhibited by the people of tlie sev- 
eral colonies, diifering according to their origin and the influence of climate and 
pursuits. The Virginians and their southern neighbors, enjoying a mild cli- 
mate, productive of tendencies to voluptuousness and ease, were from those 
classes of English society where a lack of rigid moral discipline allowed free 
living and its attendant vices. They generally exhibited less moral restraint, 
more hospitality, and greater frankness, and social refinement, than the people 
of New England. The latter Avere from among the middle classes, and in- 
cluded a great many religious enthusiasts, possessing more zeal than knowl- 
edge. They were extremely strict in their notions ; very rigid in manners, 
and jealous of strangers. Their early legislation, recognizing, as it did, the 
most 'minute regulations of social life, often presented food for merriment.^ 
Yet their intentions Avere pure ; their designs Avere noble ; and, in a great de- 
gree, their virtuous purposes Avere accomplished. They aimed to make every 
member of society a Christian, according to their OAvn pattern ; and if they 
did not fully accomplish their oljject, they erected strong bulwarks against those 



' JTote 6, page 122, and note 3, page 123. 

^ Hierarchy is, in a general sense, a priestly or ecclesiastical government. Such was the original 
form of government of the ancient Jews, when the priesthood held absolute rule. 

^ Period lY., chapter xii., page 179. ■* Page 251. 

^ They assumed the right to regulate the expenditures of the people, even for wearing-apparel, 
according to their several incomes. The general court of Massachusetts, on one occasion, required 
the proper officers to notice the " apparel" of the people, especially their " ribands and great boots." 
Drinking of healths, wearing funeral badges, and many other things that seemed improper, were 
forbidden. At Hartford, the general court kept a constant eye upon the morals of the people. Free- 
men wore compelled to vote under penalty' of a fine of sixpence; the use of tobacco was prohibited 
to persons under twenty years of age, without the certificate of a physician; and no otliers were 
allowed to use it more than once a day, and then thej- must be ten miles from any house. The 
people of Hartford were all obliged to rise in the morning when tlio watchman rang his bell. These 
are but a few of the hundreds of similar enactments found on the records of the New England 
courts. In 1646, the Legislature of Massachusetts passed a law, which imposed the penalty of a 
flogging upon any one who should kiss a woman in the streets. More than a hundred years after- 
ward, this law was enforced in Boston. The captain of a Britisli man-of-war happened to return 
from a cruise, on Sunday. His overjoyed wife met him on the wharf, and he kissed her several 
times. The magistrates ordered him to be flogged. The punishment incurred no ignominy, and he 
associated freely with the best citizens. When about to dopnrt, the captain invited the magistrates 
and others on board his vessel, to dine. When dinner was over, he caused all the magistrates to 
be flogged, on deck, in sight of the town. Then assuring them that he considered accounts settled 
between him and them, ho dismissed them, and set sail. 



176 



THE COLONIES. 



[UOI 





EARLY N. JJ. UUl>E.' 

after the English 
societj had become 
They were plodding 



DUTCHMAN. 

[1660.] 



little vices which compose great private and public 
evils. Dwelling upon a parsimonious soil, and pos- 
sessing neither the means nor the inclination for 
sumptuous living, indulged in by their southern breth- 
ren, their dwellings were simple, and their habits 
frugal. 1 

In New York, and portions of Pennsylvania and 
NeAV Jersey, the manners, customs, and pursuits of 

the Dutch prevailed even a century 

conquest of New Netherlands [1664], and 

permeated by English ideas and customs. 

money-getters ; abhorred change and innovation, and loved ease. 
They possessed few of the elements of progress, but many of the 
sul)stantial social virtues necessary to the stability of a State, and 
the health of society. From these the Swedes and Finns upon the 
Delaware^ did not differ much ; but the habits of the Quakers, 
who finally predominated in West Jersey^ and Pennsylvania,^ 
Avere quite different. They always exhibited a refined simplicity 
and equanimity, Avithout ostentatious displays of piety, that Avon 
esteem ; and they Avere governed by a religious sentiment without 
fanaticism, Avhich formed a poAverful safeguard against vice and 

immorality. 

In Mai-yland,'' the earlier settlers were also less rigid moralists than the 
New Englanders, and greater formalists in religion. They were more refined, 
equally industrious, but lacked the stability of character and perseverance 
in pursuits, of the people of the East. But at the close of the period Ave haA-e 
been considerino- [1750], the peculiarities of the inhabitants of each section 
were greatly modified l;)y inter-migration, and a general conformity to the ne- 
cessities of their several conditions, as founders of ncAV States in a wilderness. 
The tooth of religious bigotry and intolerance had lost its keenness and its 
poison, and Avhen the representatives of the several colonies met in a general 
Cono-ress' [Sept., 1774], for the public good, they stood as brethren before one 
altar, Avhile the eloquent Duchc laid the ferA^ent petitions of their hearts before 
the throne of Omnipotence.^ 

The chief pursuit of the colonists Avas, necessarily, agriculture ; yet, during 
the time Ave have considered, manufactures and commerce Avere not Avholly neg- 
lected. Necessity compelled the people to make many things which their 
poverty Avould not allow them to buy ; and manual labor, especially in the New 
England provinces, was dignified from the beginning. The settlers came Avhere 
a throne and its corrupting influences were unknown, and AAdiere the idleness 
and privileges of aristocracy had no abiding-place. In the magnificent forests 



* This is a picture of one of the oldest houses in New England, and is a favorable specimen of 
the best class of frame dwelUngs at that time. It is yet standing [1856], we believe, near Medfield, 
in Massachusetts. ^ Page 144. ^ Page 93. •• Page 160. 

" Page 161. « Page 81. '' Page 228. « Page 228. 



1756.] A RETROSPECT. -^>j'j 

of the New World, where a feudal lord' had never stood, thej began a life full 
of youth, vigor, and labor, such as the atmosphere of the elder governments of 
the earth could not then sustain. They were compelled to be self-reliant, and 
what they could not buy from the workshops of England for their simple ap- 
parel and furniture, and implements of culture, they rudely manufactured, ' and 
were content. 

The commerce of the colonies had but a feeble infancy ; and never, until 
they were politically separated from Great Britain [1776J, could their inter- 
change of commodities be properly dignified with the name of Commerce. En- 
gland early became jealous of the independent career of the colonists in respect 
to manufactured articles, and navigation acts,^ and other unwise and unjust 
restraints upon the expanding industry of the Americans, were brought to bear 
upon them. As early as 1636, a Massachusetts vessel of thirty tons made a 
trading voyage to the West Indies; and two years later [1638], another vessel 
went from Salem to New Providence, and returned with a cargo of salt, cotton, 
tobacco, and negroes.' This was the dawning of commerce in America. The 
eastern people also engaged quite extensively in fishing ; and all were looking 
forward to wealth from ocean traffic, as well as that of the land, when the pass- 
age of the second Navigation Act,^ in 1660, evinced the strange jealousy of 
Great Britain. From that period, the attention of Parliament was often 
directed to the trade and commerce of the colonies, and in 1719, the House of 
Commons declared "that erecting any manufactories in the colonies, tended to 
lessen their dependence upon Great Britain." Woolen goods, paper, hemp, 
and iron were manufactured in Massachusetts and other parts of New England, 
as early as 1732 ; and almost every family made coarse cloth for domestic use. 
Heavy duties had been imposed upon colonial iron sent to England ; and the 
colonists, thus deprived of their market for pig iron, were induced to attempt 
the manufacture of steel and bar iron for their own use. It was not until 
almost a century [1750] afterward that the mother country perceived the folly 
of her policy in this respect, and admitted colonial pig iron, duty free, first into 
London, and soon afterward into the rest of the kingdom. Hats were manufac- 

' Note 15, page 62. 

* From the beginning of colonization there were shoeraakera, tailors, and blacksmitlis in the sev- 
eral colonies. Chalmers says of New England in 1673: "There be fine iron works which cast no 
guns; no house in New England has above twenty rooms; not twenty in Boston have ten rooms 
each ; a dancing-school was set up here, but put down ; a fencing-school is allowed. There be no 
musicians by trade. All cordage, sail-cloth, and mats, come from England ; no cloth made there 
worth four shillings per yard ; no alum, no copperas, no salt, made by their sun." 

^ The tirst Navigation Act [1651] forbade all importations into England, except in English 
ships, or those belonging to English colonies. In 1660, this act was confirmed, and unjust additions 
were made to it. The colonies were forbidden to export their chief productions to any country ex- 
cept to England or its dependencies. Similar acts, aU bearing heavily upon colonial commerce, 
were made law, from time to time See note 4, page 109. 

* This was the first introduction of slaves into New England. The first slaves introduced into 
the English colonies, were those landed and sold in Virginia in 1620. [See note 6, page 105.] They 
were first recognized as such, by law, in Massachusetts, in 1641 ; in Connecticut and Rhode Island, 
about 1650; in New York, in 1656; in Maryland, in 1663; and in New .Tcrsoy. in 1665. There 
were but few slaves in Pennsylvania, and those were chiefly in Philadelphia. There were some 
there as early as 1690. Tlio people of Delaware held some at about the same time. The introduc- 
tion of slaves into the Carolinas was coeval with their settlement, and into Georgia about the year 
1750, when the people generally evaded the prohibitory law. Page 174. ^ Note 4, page 109. 

12 



278 THE COLONIES. [1492. 

tared and carried from one colony to the other in exchange ; and at about the 
.same time, brigantines and small sloops were built in Massachusetts and Penn- 
sylvania, and exchanged with West India merchants for rum, sugar, wines, and 
silks. These movements were regarded with disfavor by the British Govern- 
ment, and unwisely considering the increase of manufactures in the colonies to 
be detrimental to English interests, greater restrictions were ordained. It was 
enacted that all manufactories of iron and steel in the colonies, should be con- 
^;idered a "common nuisance," to be abated within thirty days after notice 
beino- o-iven, or tl.e owner should suITer a fine of a thou >ind dollars.' The ex- 
portation of hats even from one colony to another was prohibited, and no hatter 
was allowed to have more than two apprentices at one time. The importation 
of suo-ar, rum, and molasses was burdened with exorbitant duties ; and the Caro- 
linians were forbidden to cut down the pine-trees of their vast forests, and con- 
vert their Avood into staves, and their juice into turpentine and tar, for commer- 
cial purposes." These unjust and oppressive enactments formed a part of that 
•'bill of particulars" which the American colonies presented in their account 
with Great Britain, when they gave to the world their reasons for declaring 
themselves " free and independent States." 

From the beginning, education received special attention in the colonies, 
jiarticularly in New England. Schools for the education of both white and 
Indian children were formed in Virginia as early as 1621 ; and in 1692, Wil- 
liam and Mary College was established at Williamsburg.' Harvard College, at 
Cambridge, Massachusetts, was founded in 1637. Yale College, in Connecti- 
cut, was established at Saybrook in 1701," and was removed to its present loca- 
tion, in New Haven, in 1717. It was named in honor of Elihu Yale, pres- 
ident of the East India Company, and one of its most liberal l^enefactors. The 
colleo-e of New Jersey, at Princeton, called Nassmi Hall, was incorporated in 
1738 f and King's (now Columbia) College, in the city of New York, was 
foudned in 1750. The college of Philadelphia was incorporated in 1760. 
The college of Eliode Island (now Brown University) was established at War- 
ren in 1764. Queen's (now Rutgers) College, in New Jersey, was founded 
in 1770; and Dartmouth College, at Hanover, New Hamshire, was opened in 

' A law was enacted in 1750, which prohibited the " erection or contrivance of any mill or other 
engine for slitting or rolling iron, or any plating forge to work with a tilt hammer, or any furnace 
for making steel in the colonies." Such was the condition of manufactures in the United States one 
hundred years ago. Notwithstanding we are eminently an agricultural people, the census of 1850 
shows that we have, in round numbers, ,$530,000,000 invested in manufactures. The value of 
raw material is estimated at $550,000,000. The amount paid for labor during that year, was 
$240,000,000, distributed among 1,050,000 operatives. The value of manufactured articles is esti- 
mated at more than a thousand millions of dollars ! 

^ For a hundred years the British government attempted to confine the commerce of the colo- 
nies to the interchange of their agricultural products for English manufactures only. The trade of the 
'j;rowing colonies was certainly worth securing. From 1738 to 1748, the average value of exports 
irom Great Britain to the American colonies, was almost tlu-ee and a quarter millions of doUars 
annually. 

^ The schools previously established did not flourish, and the funds appropriated for their sup- 
port were given to the college. 

* In 1700, ten ministers of the colony met at Saybrook, and each contributed books for tho 
establishment of a college. It was incorporated in 1701. See note 8, page 158. 

' It was a feeble institution at first. In 1747, Governor Belcher became its patron. 



nso.] THE FRKXCII AND INDIAN WAR. 



179 



1771. It will be seen that the colonies could boast of no less than nine col- 
leges when the War for Independence commenced — three of them under the 
supervision of Episcopalians, three under Congrcgationalists, one each under 
Presbyterians, tlie Keformed Dutch Church, and the Baptists. But the prido 
and glory of New England have over been its common schools. Those reccivcl 
the earliest and most earnest attention. In IGoG, the Connecticut Le"-islaturc 
enacted a law which recjuired every town that contained fifty families, to main- 
tain a good school, and every town containing one hundred householders, to 
have a grammar school.' Similar provisions for general education soon pre- 
vailed throughout New England : and the people became remarkable for their 
intelligence. The rigid laws which discouraged all frivolous amusements, 
induced active minds, during leisure hours, to engage in readino-. The sub- 
jects contained in l)ooks then in general circulation, w^ere chiefly History and 
Theology, and of these a great many were sold. A traveler mentions the fact, 
that, as early as 1686, several booksellers in Boston had "made fortunes by 
their business."" But newspapers, the great vehicle of general intellio-ence to 
the popular mind of our day, were very few and of little worth, before the era 
of the Revolution.'' 

Such, in brief and general outline, were the American people, and such their 
political and social condition, at the commencement of the last inter-colonial 
war, which we are now to consider, during which they discovered their strength, 
the importance of a continental union, and their real independence of Great 
Britain. 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. [1756—1/6,3.] 

We are now to consider one of the most important epi^^odes in the history 
of the United States, known in Europe as the Seven Years' War and in 

^ These townships were, in general, organized religious communities, and had many interests in 
common. 

'^ Previous to 175S, there had been seventy booksellers in Massachusetts, two in New ITamp- 
sliire, two in Connecticut, one in Rhode Island, two in New York, and seventeen in Pcnns\-lvariia. 

' The first newspaper ever printed in America was the Boston Xews Letter, printed in 1704. 
The next was established in Philadelphia, in 1713. The first in New York wa.s in 1725 ; in Mary- 
land, in 1728; in South Carolina, in 1731 ; in Rhode Island, in 1732 ; in Virginia, in 1736; in New 
ILampshire, in 1753; in Connecticut, in 1755; in Delaware, in 1761 ; in North Carolina, 'in 1763; 
in Georgia, in 1763; and in New Jersey, in 1777. In 1850, there were published in the United 
States, 2,800 newspapers and magazines, having a circulation of 5,000,000 of copies. The number 
of copies printed during that whole year was at)out 423,000,000. 

* We have no exact enumeration of the inhabitants of the colonies; but Mr. Bancroft, after a 
carefiil examination of many ollicial returns and private comimtations, estimates the number of 
white people in the colonies, at the commencement of the French and Indian War, to have been 
about 1,165.000, distributed as follows: In New England (N. H., Mass., R. I., and Conn.), 425,000; 
in the middle colonies (N. Y., N. J., Penn., Del., and Md.), 457,000 ; and in the southern colonies 
(Va., N. and S. Carolina, and Geo.), 283,000. The estimated number of slaves. 260.000, of whom 
about 11,000 were in New England; middle colonies, 71,000; and the .southern colonies, 178.000. 
Of the 1,165,000 white people. Dr. Franklin estimated that only about 80,000 were of foreign birth, 
siiowing the fact that emigration to America had almost ceased. At the lieginning of the Revolu- 
tion, in 1775, the estimated population of the thirteen colonies was 2,803,000. The documents of 
Congress, in 1775, gives the round number of 3,000,000. 



280 THE COLONIES. [175G. 

America as the French and Indian War. It may with propriety be con- 
sidered introductory to the War for Independence, which resulted in the birth 
of our Republic. The first three inter-colonial wars, or the conflicts in America 
between the English and French colonies, already noticed,' originated in hostil- 
ities first declared by the two governments, and commenced in Europe. The 
fourth and last, which resulted in establishing the supremacy of the English in 
America, orio-inated here in disputes concerning territorial claims. For a hun- 
dred years, the colonies of the two nations had been gradually expanding and 
increasino- in importance. The English, more than a million in number, occu- 
pied the seaboard from the Penobscot to the gt. Mary, a thousand miles in 
extent, all eastward of the great ranges of the Alleghanies, and far northward 
toward the St. Lawrence. The French, not more than a hundred thousand 
strong, made settlements along the St. Lawrence, the shores of the great lakes, 
on the Mississippi and its tributaries, and upon the borders of the Gulf of Mex- 
ico. They early founded Detroit [1683], Kaskaslda [1684], Vincennes [1690], 
and New Orleans [1717]. The English planted agricultural colonies; the 
French were chiefly engaged in traffic with the Indians. This trade, and the 
operations of the Jesuit' missionaries, who were usually the self-denying pio- 
neers of commerce in its penetration of the wilderness, gave the French great 
influence over the tribes of a vast extent of country lying in the rear of the 
English settlements. 3 

France and England at that time were heirs to an ancient quarrel. Origin- 
ating far back in feudal ages, and kept alive by subsequent collisions, it burned 
vigorously in the bosoms of the respective colonists in America, where it was 
continually fed by frequent hostilities on frontier ground. They had ever 
rewarded each other with extreme jealousy, for the prize before them was 
supreme rule in the New World. The trading posts and missionary stations 
of the French, in the far north-west, and in the bosom of a dark wilderness, 
several hundred miles distant from the most remote settlement on the English 
frontier, attracted very little attention, until they formed a part of more exten- 
sive operations. But when, after the capture of Louisburg,'' in 1745, the French 
adopted vigorous measures for opposing the extension of British power in Amer- 
ica : when they built strong vessels at the foot of Lake Ontario^ — made treaties 
of friendship Avith the Delaware® and Shawnee" tribes ; strengthened Fort Niag- 
ara f and erected a cordon of fortifications, more than sixty in number, between 
Montreal and New Orleans — the English were aroused to immediate and effective 
action in defense of the territorial claims given them in their ancient charters. 
By virtue of these, they claimed dominion Avestward to the Pacific Ocean, south 
of the latitude of the north shore of Lake Erie ; while the French claimed a title 
to all the territory watered by the Mississippi and its tributaries, under the 
more plausible plea, that they had made the first explorations and settlements 

' King Williatn's War (page 130); Queen Anne^s War (pa<re 135); and King George's War (pngo 
136). * Note 4, page 130. = Chiefly of the Algonquin nation. Page 17. 

* Page 138. ^ At Fort Frontenac, now Kingston. Upper Canada. 

° Pao-e 20. ' Page 19. '" ' •* Page 200. 



1763.] THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. Jgl 

in that region.' The claims of the real owner, the Indian, were lost sight of 
in the discussion.'^ 

These disputes soon ended in action. The territorial question was speedily 
brought to an issue. In 1749, George the Second granted six hundred thou- 
sand acres of land, on the south-east bank of the Ohio River, to a company 
composed of London merchants and Virginia land speculators, with the exclusive 
privilege of traflfic witli the Indians. It was called The OJiio Company. 
Surveyors were soon sent to explore, and make boundaries, and prepare for 
settlements; and English traders Avent even as far as the country of the 
]\Iiamies' to traffic with the natives. The French regarded them as intruders, 
and, in 1753, seized and imprisoned some of them. Apprehending the loss of 
traffic and influence among the Indians, and the ultimate destruction of their 
line of communication between Canada and Louisiana, the French commenced 
the erection of forts between the Alleghany River and Lake Erie, near the 
present w^estern line of Pennsylvania.^ The Ohio C'o//?/>««2/ complained of 
these hostile movements ; and as their grant lay within the chartered limits of 
Virginia, the authorities of that colony considered it their duty to interfere. 
Robert Dinwiddle, the lieutenant-governor, sent a letter of remonstrance to M. 
De St. Pierre, the French commander.^ George Washington was chosen to be 
the bearer of the dispatch. He was a young man, less than twenty-two years 
of age, but possessed much experience of forest life. He already held the com- 
mission of adjutant-general of one of the four militia districts of Virginia. 
From early youth he had been engaged in land surveying, had become accus- 
tomed to the dangers and hardships of the wilderness, and was acquainted with 
the character of the Indians, and of the country he was called upon to traverse. 

Young Washington, as events proved, was precisely the instrument needed 
for such a service. His mission involved much personal peril and hardship. 
It required the courage of the soldier, and the sagacity of the statesman, to 
perform the duty properly. The savage tribes through which he had to pass, 
were hostile to the English, and the French he was sent to meet were national 
enemies, wily and suspicious. With only two or three attendants,® Washington 
started from Williamsburg late in autumn [Oct. 81, 1753], and after journey- 
ing full four hundred miles (more than half the distance through a dark wilder- 
ness), encountering almost incredible hardships, amid snow, and icy floods, and 
hostile Indians, he reached the French outpost at Venango on the 4th of De- 



' Page 180. 

"^ When the agent of the Ohio Company went into tlie Indian country, on the borders of the 
Ohio River, a messenger was sent by two Indian sachems, to make the significant inquiry, " Where 
is tlie Indian's land ? Tlie Englisli claim it all on one side of tlie river, the French on the other; 
where does the Indian's land lay?" ' Page 19. 

* Twelve hundred men erec'tcd a ibrt on the south sliore of Lake Erie, at Presque Isle, now 
Erie ; soon after^vard, another was built at Le Boeuf^ on the Venango (French Creek), now the vil- 
lage of Waterford; and a third was erected at Venango, at the junction of French Creek and the 
Alleghany River, now the village of Franklin. 

* Already the governors of Virginia and Pennsylvania had received orders from the imperial 
government, to repel the French by force, whenever they were " found within the undoubted liruita 
of their provinct;." 

' He was afterward joined by two others at Willis Creek (now Cumberland), in Maryland, 



282 THE COLONIES. [1756. 

ccmber. lie was politely received, and his visit was made the occasion of great 
conviviality by the officers of the garrison. The free use of wine made the 
Frenchmen incautious, and they revealed to the sober Washington their hostile 
designs against the English, which the latter had suspected. He perceived the 
liecessity of dispatching l)usiness, and returning to Williamsburg, as speedily 
!is possible ; so, after tarrying a day at Venango, ho pushed forward to the 
head-quarters of St. Pierre, at Le Boeuf That officer entertained him politely 
durino- four days, and then gave him a written answer to Dinwiddle's remon- 
strance, enveloped and sealed. Washington retraced his perilous patliway 
through tlie wilderness, and after an absence of eleven weeks, he again stood in 
the piesence of Governor Dinwiddle, on the IGtli of January, 1754, his mission 
fulfilled to the satisfa^jtion of all. His judgment, sagacity, courage, and execu- 
tive force — qualities which eminently fitted him for the more iiiiportant duties 
as chief of the Revolutionary armies, more than twenty years afterward [1775J 
— were nobly developed in the performance of his mission. They were publicly 
acknowledged, and were never forgotten. 

Already the Virginians were restive under royal rule, and at that time 
were complaining seriously of an o])noxious fee allowed hj the Board of Trade, 
in the issue of }Kitents for lands. The House of Burgesses refused, at first, to 
pay any attention to Dinwiddle's complaints against the French ; but at lengll) 
they voted fifty thousand dollars for the support of troops which had been 
enlisted to march into the Ohio country. The revelations made to Washington, 



and the tenor of St. Pierre's reply, confirmed the suspicions of Dinwiddle, and 
showed the Avisdom of the legislative co-operation. St. Pierre said he was acting 
in obedience to the orders of his superior, the Marquis Du Quesne,' at IMontreal, 
and refused to withdraw his troops from the disputed territory. Dinwiddle 
immediatel}^ prepared an expedition against the French, and solicited the co-op- 
eration of the other colonies. It Avas the first call for a general colonial union 
a'"''ainst a common enemy. All hesitated except North Carolina. The legisla- 
ture of that colony promptly voted four hundred men, and they were soon on 
the march for Winchester, in Virginia. They eventually proved of little use, 
for becoming doubtful as to their pay, a greater part of them had disbanded 
before reaching Winchester. Some volunteers from South Carolina and Nev*- 
Vork, also hastened toAvard the seat of future Avar. The Virginians resy.oiided 
to the call, and a regiment of six hundred men Avas soon organized, Avith Colonel 
Joshua Fry as its commander, and Major Washington as his lieutenant. The 
troops rendezvoused at Alexandria, and from that city, Washington, at the head 
of the advanced corps, marched [April 2, 1754J toAvard the Ohio. 

Private and public interest went hand in hand. While these military prep- 
arations Avere in progress, the Ohio Company had sent thirty men to construct 
a fort at the confluence of the Alleghany and IMonongahela Rivers, now the site of 
Pittsburg. They had just commenced operations [April 18], Avhen a party of 
French and Indians, under Contrecoeur, attacked and expelled them, completed 

* Pronounced Du Kane. ■" ' "' 



1763.] THE FREXCII AND INDIAN WAR. jgg 

the fortification, and named it Dii Quesne, in honor of the governor-general of 
Canada.' When intelligence of this event reached Washington on his march, 
he hastened forward with one hundred and fifty men, to a point on the Monon- 
gahela, less than forty miles from Fort Du Quesne. There he was informei] 
that a strong force was marching to intercept him, and he cautiously fled back 
to the Great Meadows, where he erected a stockade," and called it Fort Neces- 
sity.^ Before completing it, a few of his troops attacked an advanced party of 
the French, under Jumonville. They were surprised at the dead of nifj-ht 
[May 28], and the commander and nine of his men were slain. Of the fifty 
who formed the French detachment, only about fifteen escaped. This was the 
first blood-shedding of that long and eventful conflict known as the French and 
Indian War. Two days afterward [jMay 30], Colonel Fry died, and the 
whole command devolved on Washington. Troops haste«ied forward to join the 
young leader at Fort Necessity, and with about four hundred men, he proceeded 
toward Fort Du Quesne. M. de Villiers, brother of the slain Jumonville, had 
marched at about the same time, at the head of more than a thousand Indians 
and some Frenchmen, to avenge the death of his kinsman. Advised of hi.'^ 
approach, Washington fell back to Fort Necessity, and there, on the 8d of July, 
he was attacked by almost fifteen hundred foes. After a conflict of about ten 
hours, de Villiers proposed an honorable capitulation." Washin^Tton sio-ned it 
on the morning of the 4th, and marching out of the stockade with the honor,-, 
of war, departed, with his troops, for Virginia. 

It was during this military campaign, that a civil movement of great import- 
ance was in progress. The English and French governments had listened to 
the disputes in America with interest. At length the British ministry, per- 
ceiving war to be inevitable, advised the colonies to secure the continued 
friendship of the Six Nations,^ and to unite in a plan for general defense. 
All the colonies were invited to appoint delegates to meet in convention al 
Albany, in the summer of 1754. Only seven responded by sending delegates." 
The convention was organized on the 19th of June.^ Having renewed a treaty 
with the Indians, the subject of colonial union was brought forward. A plan 
of confederation, similar to our Federal Constitution, drawn up by Dr. Franklin, 
was submitted.* It Avas adopted on the 4th of July, 1754, and was ordered to 
be laid before the several colonial Assemblies, and the imperial Board of Trade," 

' Page 182. 

" Stockade is a general name of sti'uctures for defense, formed by driving strong posts in the 
ground, so as to make a safe inclosure. It is the same as a palisade. Sec picture on page 12'7. 

^ Near tlic national road from Cumberland to Wheeling, in the south-eastern part of Fayette 
county, Pennsylvania. The Great Meadows are on a fertile bottom about four miles from the foot 
of Laurel Hill, and fiftv from Cumberland. 

•* A mutual restoration of prisoners was to take place, and the English were not to erect any 
establishment beyond tiie mountains, for the space of a year. The English troops were to march, 
vmmolested, back to Virginia. ' Page 25. 

* New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, and 
Maryland. 

' James Delancy, of New York was elected president. There were twenty-five delegates in all. 

* Frankhn was a delegate from Pennsylvania. The idea of union was not a new one. William 
Penn suggested the advantage of a union of all the English colonies as early as 1700; and Co.xe, 
Speaker of the New Jersey Assembly, Jidvocated it in 1722. Now it first found tangible expression 
under the sanction of authority. ° Note 5, page 134. 



184 THE COLONIES. [1156. 

for ratification.' Its fate was singular. The Assemblies considering it too 
aristocratic — giving the royal governor too much power — refused their assent ; 
and the Board of Trade rejected it because it was too democratic.'^ Although 
a legal union was not consummated, the grand idea of political fraternization 
then began to bud. It blossomed in the midst of the heat of the Stamp Act 
excitement eleven years later [1765], and its fruit appeared in the memorable 
Congress of 1774. 

The convention at Albany had just closed its labors, Avhen the Indians com- 
menced murderous depredations upon the New England frontiers [August and 
September, 1754J ; and among the tribes west of the Alleghanies, French emis- 
saries were busy arousing them to engage in a war of extermination against the 
English. Even in full view of these menaces, some of the colonies were tardy 
in preparations to avert the evil. Shirley was putting forth energetic efforts in 
Massachusetts ; New York voted twenty-five thousand dollars for military serv- 
ice, and Maryland thirty thousand dollars for the same. The English govern- 
ment sent over fifty thousand dollars for the use of the colonists, and with it a 
commission to Governor Sharpe of Maryland, appointing him commander-in- 
chief of all the colonial forces. Disputes about military rank and precedence 
soon ran high between the Virginia regimental ofiicers, and the captains of 
independent companies. To silence these, Dinwiddle unwisely dispensed Avith 
all field officers, and broke the Virginia regiments into separate companies. This 
arrangement displeased Washington ; he resigned his commission, and the year 
1754 drew to a close without any efficient preparations for a conflict with the 
French.' 

CAMPAIGN OF 1755. 

Yet war bad not been declared by the two nations ; and for more than a 
year and a half longer the colonies were in conflict, before England and France 
formally announced hostility to each other. In the mean while the British 
government, perceiving that a contest, more severe than had yet been seen, 
must soon take place in America, extended its aid to its colonies. Edward 
Braddock, an Irish officer of distinction, arrived in Chesapeake Bay, with two 
regiments of his countrymen, on the 20th of February, 1755. He had Ijeen 

' It proposed a general government to be administered by one chief magistrate, to be appointed 
by the crown, and a comicil of forty-eight members, chosen by the several legislatures. This coun- 
cil, answering to our Senate, was to have power to declare war, levy troops, raise money, regulate 
trade, conclude peace, and many other things necessary for the general good. The delegates from 
Connecticut alone, objected to the plan, because it gave the governor-general veto power, or the 
right to refuse his signature to laws ordained by the Senate, and thus prevent them becoming stat- 
utes. 

' The Board of Trade had proposed a plan which contained all the elements of a system for the 
utter enslavement and dependence of the Americans. Tliey proposed a general government, composed 
of the governors of the several colonies, and certain select members of the several councils. These 
were to have power to draw on the British Treasury for money to carry on the impenduig war : the 
sum to be reimbursed by taxes imposed upon the colonists by Parliament. The colonists preferred 
to do their own fighting, and levy their own taxes, independent of Great Britain. 

^ According to a return made to the Board of Trade at about this time, the population of tlie colo- 
nies amounted to one million four hundred and eighty-five thousand, six hundred and tlurty-four. 
Of these, two hundred and ninety-two thousand seven hundred and thirty-eight were negroes. 



1763.] THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 185 

appointed commander-in-chief of all the British and provincial forces in Amer- 
ica ; and at his request, six colonial governors' met in convention at Alexandria, 
in April following, to assist in making arrangements for a vigorous campaign. 
Three separate expeditions were planned ; one against Fort du Quesnc, to be 
led bj Braddock ; a second against Niagara and Frontenac (Kingston), to be 
commanded hy Governor Shirley ; and a third against Crown Point, on Lake 
Champlain, under General William Johnson," then an influential resident among 
the Mohawk nation of the Iroquois confederacy.' Already a fourth expedition 
had been arranged by Shirley and Governor Lawrence of Nova Scotia, designed 
to drive the French out of that province, and other portions of ancient Acadie.* 
These extensive arrangements, sanctioned by the imperial government, awakened 
the most zealous patriotism of all the colonists, and the legislatures of the sev- 
eral provinces, except Pennsylvania and Georgia, voted men and supplies for 
the impending war. The Quaker Assembly of Pennsylvania was opposed to 
military movements ; the people of Georgia were too poor to contribute. 

There was much enthusiasm in New England, and the eastern expedition 
first proceeded to action. Three thousand men, under General John Winslow,* 
sailed from Boston on the 20th of Mnj, 1755, and landed at the head of the 
Bay of Fundy. There they were joined by Colonel Monckton with three hun- 
dred British regulars" from the neighboring garrison, and that officer, having 
oflicial precedence of Winslow, took the command. They captured the forts in 
possession of the French there, in June, without difficulty, and placed the whole 
region under martial rule.^ This was the legitimate result of war. But the 
cruel sequel deserves universal reprobation, '^he total destruction of the French 
settlements was decided upon. Under the plea that the Acadians would aid 
their French brethren in Canada, the innocent and happy people were seized in 
their houses, fields, and churches, and conveyed on board the English vessels. 
Families were broken, never to be united ; and to compel the surrender of those 
who fled to the woods, their starvation was insured by a total destruction of 
their growing crops. The Acadians were stripped of every thing, and those 
who were carried away, were scattered among the English colonies, helpless 
beggars, to die heart-broken in a strange land. In one short month, their 
paradise had become a desolation, and a happy people were crushed into the dust. 

The western expedition, under Braddock, was long delayed on account of 
difficulties in obtaining provisions and wagons. The patience of the commander 
was sorely tried, and in moments of petulanc^? he used expressions against the 
colonists, which they long remembered with bitterness. He finally commenced 
his march from Will's Creek (Cumberland) on the 10th of June, 1755, with 
about two thousand men. British and provincials. Anxious to reach Fort du 

' Shirley, of Massachusetts ; Dinwiddle, of Virginia ; Delancey, of Neio York ; Sharpe, of Manj- 
land; Morris, of Pennsylvania ; and Dobbs. of Xorf?i Carolina. Admiral Keppcl, commander of tho 
British fleet, was also present. ^ Pape 190. ^ Page 25. ■* Papre 58. 

^ He was a great grandson of Edward Winslow, the third govt>rnor of Plymoutli. He was a 

major-general in the Massachusetts militia, but on this occasion held the office of lieutenant-colonel. 

This term is used to denote soldiers who are attached to the regular arm^-, and as dLstinguished 

from volunteers and militia. The latter term applies to the great body of citizens who are liable to 

do perpetual military duty only in time of war. ' Note 8, page 170. 



1S6 



THE COLOXIES. 



[1756. 




FORT 1)U QUESNE. 



Quesne before the garrison should receive re-inforcements, he niadc forced 
marches Avith twelve hundred men, leaving Colonel Dunbar, 
his second in command, to follow with the remainder, and 
the wacrons. Colonel Washington' had consented to act as 
Braddock":> aid, and to him was given the command of the 
provincials. Knowing, far better than Braddock, the perils 
of their march and the kind of Avarfare thej might expect, he 
ventured, modestly, to give advice, founded upon his experi- 
ence. But the haughty general would listen to no suggestions, 
especially from a provincial subordinate. This obstinacy resulted in his ruin. 
Yfhen within ten miles of Fort du Quesne, and while marching at noon-day, on 
the 9th of July, in fancied security, on the south side of the Monongahela, a 
volley of bullets and a cloud of arrows assailed the advanced guard, under 
Lieutenant-Colonel Gage.° They came from a thic^;et and ravine close by, 
where a' thousand dusky Ava-rriors lay in ambush. Again Washington asked 
permission to fight according to the provincial custom, but Avas refused. 
Braddock must maneuver according to European tactics, or not at all. For 
three hours, deadly volley after volley fell upon the British columns, Avhilo 
Braddock attempted to maintain order, where all Avas confusion. The slain 
soon covered the ground. Every mounted officer but Washington AA'as killed or 
maimed, and finally, the really lirave Braddock himself, after having several 
horses shot under him, A\"as mortally Avounded.^ Washington remained unhurt. ' 
Under his direction the provincials rallied, AAdiile the regulars, seeing their gen- 
eral fall, were fleeing in great confusion. The provincials coA'^ered their retrer.t 
so gallantly, that the enemy did not follow. A Aveek after- 
ward, Washington read the impressiA'e funeral service of the 
Anglican Church,^ over the corpse of Braddock, by torch- 
light [July 15, 1755] ; and he Avas buried, Avhere his graA^e 
may now [1856] be seen, nea,r the National road, between the 
fiuy-third and fifty-fourth mile from Cumberland, in Mary- 
land. Colonel Dunbar received the flying troops, and marched 
to Philadelphia in August, Avith the broken companies. Wash- 
ington, Avith the southern provincials, Avent back to Virginia. 
GEN. BRADDOCK. Thus Gudcd tho second expedition of the campaign of 1755. 

' Page 181. ^ Afterward General Gage, commander-in-chief of the British troops at 

Boston, at the beginning of the Revolution. Page 226. 

^ Braddocli was shot by Thomas Faucett, one of the provincial pdldicrs. Ilis plea was self- 
preservation. Braddock had issued a positive order, that none of the English should protect them- 
selves behind trees, as the French and Indians did, Faucett's brother had taken such position, and 
when Braddock perceived it, he struck him to the earth with his sword. Thomas, on seeing his 
brother fall, shot Braddock in the back, and then the provincials, fighting as they pleased, were 
saved from utter destruction. 

* Dr. Craik, who wan with TTashinp-ton at tliis time, and also attended him in his last illness, 
says, that while in the Ohio country with liim, fifteen years afterward, an old Indian chief came, as 
he said, " a long way" to see the Virginia colonel at whom he fired his rifle fifteen times during the 
battle on the Monongahela, without hitting him. Washington was never wounded in battle. On 
this occasion he had two horses shot under him. and f^ur bullets passed through his coat. Writing 
of this to his brother, he remarked. "By the all-powcrfijl dispensations of Providence, I have been 
protected beyond all human probability or expectation, * * * although death was leveling my 
companions on every side." . ^ Note 1, page IGS. Sec picture on page 187. 




^■r- ^ 




BUKIAL OF BUADDOCK. 



1763.] THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. Ig9 

The third expedition, under Governor Shirley, designed to operate against 
the French posts at Niagara and Frontenac, experienced less disasters, but was 
quite as unsuccessful. It was late in August before Shirley had collected the 
main body of his troops at Oswego, from whence he intended to go to Niagara 
by water. His force was twenty-five hundred strong on the 1st of September, 
yet circumstances compelled him to hesitate. The prevalence of storms, and 
of sickness in his camp, and, finally, the desertion of the greater part of his 
Indian allies,' made it perilous to proceed, and- he relinquished the design. 
Leaving sufiicient men to garrison the forts -sv-hich he had commenced at 
Oswego," he marched the remainder to Albany [Oct. 24], and returned to 
Massachusetts. 

The fourth expedition, under General Johnson, prepared for attacking 
Crown Point, ^ accomplished more than tliat of Braddock' or Shirley, but failed 
to achieve its main object. In July [1755], about six thousand troops, 
drawn from New England, New York, and New Jersey, had assemlded at the 
head of boat navigation on the Hudson (now the village of Fort Edward), fifty 
miles north of Albany. They were under the command of General Lyman,' 
of Connecticut ; and before the arrival of General Johnson, in August, with 
cannons and stores, they had erected a strong fortification, which was afterv^-ard 
called Fort Edward.^ On his arrival, Johnson took command, and with the 
main body of the troops, marched to the head of Lake George, about fifteen 
miles distant, where he established a camp, protected on both sides by an im- 
passable swamp. 

While the provincial troops were making these preparations, General the 
Baron Dieskau (a French officer of much repute), with about two thousand 
men, •chiefly Canadian militia and Indians, was approaching from Montreal, 
by way of Lake Champlain, to meet the English.' When Johnson arrived at 
Lake George, on the Tth of September, Indian scouts informed him that Dies- 
kau Avas disembarking at the head of Lake Champlain (now the village of 

' Tribes of the Six Nations [page 25], and some Stockbridge Indians. The latter were called 
Housatonics, from the river on which they were found. They were a division of the Mohegan 
[page 21] tribe. 

- Fort Ontario on tlie east, and Fort PopporcU on the west of Oswego River. Fort Pepperell 
was afterward called Fort Oswego. See map, page 192. The house was built of stone, and tiio 
walls were three feet thick. It was within a square inclosure composed of a thick wall, and two 
strong square towers. 

^ Upon this tongue of land on Lake Champlain, the French erected a fortification, which they 
called Fort St. Frederick. On the Vermont side of the lake, opposite, there was a French settle- 
ment as early as 1731. In allusion to the chimnies of their houses, which remained long alter the 
settlement was destroyed, it is still known as Chimney Point. 

* Page 185. 

^ Born in Durham, Connecticut, in the year 171G. Ho was a graduate of Tale College, and be- 
came a lawj'cr. Ho was a member of the colonial Assembly in 1750, and performed important 
services during the whole war that soon afterward ensued. He commanded the expedition that 
captured Havana in 1762 ; and at the peace, in 17 03, he became concerned in lands in the Missis- 
sippi region. He died in Florida in 1775. 

' It was first called Fort Lyman. Johnson, meanly jealous of General Lyman, changed the 
name to Fort Edward. 

■" Dieskau and his French troops, on their way from France, narrowly escaped captiire by Ad- 
miral Boseawen, who was cruising, with an English tlect, oil' Newfoundland. They eluded his fleet 
during a fog, and went in safety up the St. Lawrence. 



190 



THE COLONIES. 



[1756. 



^^- 


A til-Ti 7- -~ -^ 1 




\ \ \ V „ y "^ ' 


. IV- f /I 


1 




f 


^ ^ \ 




^ I J 




S ' , ^^^-^W 


\-\^'X^ ^r.n^ 



FORT EDWARD. 



Wliiteljall). preparatory to marching against Fort Edward. Tlie next scouts 
brought Johnson the intelligence that Dieskau's Indians, 
terrified hj the English cannons when thej approached 
Fort Edward, had induced him to change his plans, and 
that he was marching to attack his camp. Colonel 
Ephraim Williams, of Deerfield, Massachusetts, was imme- 
diately sent [Sept. 8], with a thousand troops from that 
colony, and two hundred MohaAvks,' under the famous chief, 
Hendrick, to intercept the enemy. Tl;ey met in a narroAv 
deffle, four miles from Like George. Tlie English sud- 
denly fell into an ambuscade. Williams and Hendrick 
were both killed,^ and their followers fell back in great con- 
fusion, upon Johnson's camp, hotly pursued by the victors. One of the Mas- 
sachusetts regiments, which fought bravely in this action, was commanded by 
Timothy Ruggles, who was president of the Stamp Act Congress,' held at New^ 
York in 1765, but who, when the Revolution broke out, was active on the side 
of the Crown. 

The commander-in-chief was assured of tho disaster before the flying fugi- 
tives made their appearance. He immediately cast up a lireastwork of logs and 
limbs, placed upon it two cannons which he had received from Fort Edward 
two days before, and when the enemy came rushing on, 
close upon the heels of the English, he was prepared to 
receive them. The fugitives had just reached Johnson's 
camp when Dieskau and his flushed victors appeared. 
Unsuspicious of heavy guns upon so rude a pile as John- 
son's battery exhibited, they rushed forward, with sword, 
pike, and tomahawk, and made a spirited attack. One 
volley from the English cannons made the Indians flee in 
terror to the shelter of the deep forests around. The Ca- 
nadian militia also fled, as General Lyman and a body of 
troops approached from Fort Edward ; and, finally, the French troops, after 
continuing the conflict several hours, and losing their commander," withdrew, 
and hastened to Crown Point. Their baggage was captured by some New 
Hampshire troops from Fort Edward, and the defeat was complete. 

General Johnson erected a fortification on the site of his camp, at the head 
of the lake, and called it Fort William Henry. It was constructed under the 
direction of Richard Gridley, wlio commanded the artillery in the siege of 
Louisburg, ten years before.^ Being informed that the French were strength- 




SIR WILLIAM JOHNSON. 



> Page 23. 

- While on his way north, "Williams stopped at Albany, made his will, and liequeathed certain 
property to found a free school for western Massachusetts. That was the foundation of "Williams' 
College" — his best monument. The rock near which his body was found, on the right side of the 
road fi-om Glenn's Falls to Lake George, still bears his name ; and a collection of water on the bat- 
tle-ground, is called Bloody Pond. ^ Page 215. 

* Dieskau was found mortally wounded, carried into the English camp, and there tenderly 
treated. He was afterward conveyed to New York, from whence he sailed to England, where he 
died. ^ Note 1, page 137. 



1763.] 



THE FRENCn AND INDIAN WAR. 



191 



ening their -works at Crown Point, and were fortifying Ticonderoga,' he thought 

it prudent to cease offensive operations. He garrisoned Fort Edward and Fort 

William Ilenrj, returned to Albany, and as the season was 

advanced [October, 1755J, he dispersed the remainder of his 

troops. For his services in this campaign, the king conferred 

the honor of knighthood upon him, and gave him twenty-five 

thousand dollars with which to support the dignity. This 

honor and emolument properly belonged to General Lyman, 

the real Iiero of the campaign." JolnL-^ou had Sir Peter Warren 

and other friends at court, and so woii the unmerited pi-izc. 




iORT WILLIAJI 
HENRY. 



CAMPAIGN OF 1756. 

The home government3 now took up the quarrel. The campaign of 1755, 
having assumed all the essential features of regular war, and there appearing 
no prospect of reconciliation of the belligerents, England formally proclaimed 
hostilities against France, on the 17th of May, 1756, and the latter soon after- 
ward [June 9] reciprocratcd the action. Governor 
Shirley, who had become commander-in chief, after the 
death of Braddock, was superseded by General Aber- 
crombie^ in the spring of 1756. lie came as the lieu- 
tenant of Lord Loudon, whom the king had appointed 
to the chief command in America, and also governor of 
A^irginia. Loudon was an indolent man, and a remark- 
able procrastinater, and the active general-in-chief was 
Abercrombie, who, al.^o, was not remarkable for his 
skill and forethought as a commander. He arrived 
with several British regiments early in June. The 
plan of the campaign for that year had already been arranged by a convention 
of colonial governors held at Albany early in the season. Ten thousand men 
were to attack Crown Point;' six thousand were to proceed against Niagara;" 
three thousand against Fort du Quesne f and two thousinid were to cross the 
country from the Kennebec, to attack the French settlements on the Cliaudiere 
liiver. 

The command of the expedition against Crown Point was intrusted to Gen- 
eral Winslow,' who had collected seven thousand men at Albany, when Aber- 




ABERCROMBIE. 



' Page 196. 

^ Lyman urged Johnson to pursue the French, and assail Crown Point. The Moliawks burned 
for an opportunity to avenge the death of TIendrick. But Johnson preferred ease and safety, and 
spent the autumn in constructing Fort Wilham Henry. He meanly withhold all praise from Ly- 
man, in his dispatches to government. Johnson was bom in Ireland, in IT 14. He came to Amer- 
ica to take charge of the lands of his uncle. Admiral Warren [page 137], on the Mohawk River, 
and gained great influence over the Indians of New York. He died at his seat (now the village 
of Johnstown) in the Mohawk valley, in 1774. 

' A strong party in England, irritated by the foilurcs of the campaign of 175.5, cast the blame 
of Braddock's defeat and other disasters, upon the Americans, and linally procured the recall of 
Shirley. He completely vindicated his character, and was afterward appointed governor of the 
Bahama Islands. * Page 200. * Page 200. ° Pago 186. ' Pase 185. 



192 



THE COLONIES. 



[1756. 



crombie arrived. Difficulties immediately occurred, respecting military rank, 
and caused delay. They were not adjusted when the tardy Loudon arrived, at 
midsummer ; and his arrogant assumption of superior rank for the royal officers, 
increased the irritation and discontent of the provincial troops. When these 
matters were finally adjusted, in August, the French had gained such positive 
advantages, that the whole plan of the campaign was disconcerted. 

Baron Dieskau' was succeeded by the Marquis de Montcalm, in the com- 
mand of the French troops in Canada. Perceiving the delay of the English, 
and knowing that a large number of their troops was at Albany, short of pro- 
visions, and suffering from small -pox, and counting wisely upon the inefficiency 
of their commander-in-chief, he collected about five thousand Frenchmen, Ca- 
nadians, and Indians, at Frontenac,^ and crossing Lake Ontario, landed, with 
thirty pieces of cannon, a few miles east of Oswego. Two days afterward, he 
appeared before Fort Ontario [Aug. 11, 1756], on the east side of the river, 
then in command of Colonel Mercer. After a short but brave resistance, the 
garrison abandoned the fort [Aug. 12], and withdrcvf to an older fortification, 
on the west side of the river.^ Their commander was killed, and they were 
soon obliged to surrender themselves [Aug. 14] prisoners 
of war. The spoils of victory for Montcalm, were four- 
teen hundred prisoners, a large amount of military stores, 
consisting of small arms, ammunition, and provisions ; one 
hundred and thirty- four pieces of cannon, and several ves- 
sels, large and small, in the harbor. After securing them, 
he demolished the forts,'' and returned to Canada. The 
whole country of the Six Nations was now laid open to 
the incursions of the French. 
The loss of Oswego was a severe blow to the English. When intelligence 
of that event reached Loudon, he recalled the troops then on their way toward 
Lake Champlain ; and all the other expeditions were abandoned. Forts Wil- 
liam Henry^ and Edward'^ were strengthened ; fifteen hundred volunteers and 
drafted militia, under Washington, were placed in stockades^ for the defense of 
the Pennsylvania and Virginia frontiers ; and on the western borders of the 
Carolinas several military posts were established as a protection against the 




FORTS AT OSWEGO. 



' Page 189. ^ Note 5, page 180. 

^ A palisaded lilock-house, luiilt liy order of Governor Burnet in 
1727, near the spot where Fort Peppcrell was erected. A redoubt 
or block-liouse is a fortified building, of peculiar construction, well cal- 
culated for defense. They were generally built of logs, in the form 
represented in the engraving. They were usually two stories, witli 
narrow openings through which to fire muskets from witliin. They 
were sometimes prepared witli openings for cannons. 

* This was to i^lease the Six NATIO^fS, who had never felt con- 
tented witli this supporter of power in tlieir midst. Tlie demolition 
of these forts, induced tlio Indians to assume an attitude of neutrahty, 
by a solemn treaty. 

' Page 191. It commanded a view of the lake from its head to 
the Nan-ows, fifteen miles. 
^ Page 190. The Hudson is divided at Fort ICdward, into two channels, by Roger's Island, 
upon which the provincial troops out of the fort, usually encamped. ' Note 2, page 183. 




BLOCK HOUSE. 



1763.] THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. I93 

Cherokees' and Creeks," whom French emissaries were exciting to hostilities 
against the English. Hitherto, since the commencement of hostilities, some of 
the colonial Assemblies had been slow to make appropriations for the support 
of the war. Pennsylvania and South Carolina, actuated by different motives, 
had held l)ack, but now the former made an appropriation of thirty thousand 
pounds, to be issued in paper, and the latter granted four thousand pounds 
toward enlisting two companies for the public service. 

The most important achievement of the provincials during that year, was 
the chastisement of the Indians at Kittaning, their chief town, situated on the 
Alleghany River. During several months they had spread terror and desola- 
tion along the western frontiers of Pennsylvania and Virginia, and almost a 
thousand white people had been murdered or carried into captivity. These acts 
aroused the people of Pennsylvania, and Dr. Franklin undertook the military 
command of the frontier, with the rank of colonel. His troops were voluntary 
.militia. Under his directions, a chain of forts and blockhouses was erected 
along the base of the Kittaning mountains, from the Delaware to the Maryland 
line. Franklin soon perceived that he was not in his right place, and he 
abandoned military life forever. The Indians continuing their depredations. 
Colonel John Armstrong of Pennsylvania,^ accompanied by Captain Mercer'' of 
Virginia, with about three hundred men, attacked them on the night of the 8th 
of September [1756], killed their principal chiefs, destroyed their town, and 
completely humbled them. Thus ended the campaign of 175G. The French 
still held in possession almost all of the territory in dispute, and of the most 
important of their military posts. They had also expelled tlie English from 
Oswego and Lake George, and had compelled the powerful Six Nations to 
make a treaty of neutrality. On the whole, the campaign of 1756 closed with 
advantages on the part of the French. 

CAMPAIGNOF1757. 

A military council was held at Boston on the 19th of January, 1757, when 
Lord Loudon proposed to confine the operations of that year to an expedition 
against Louisburg,^ and to the defense of the frontiers. Because he was com- 
mander-in-chief, wiser and better men acquiesced in his plans, but deplored his 
want of judgment and executive force. The people of New England, in par- 
ticular, were greatly disappointed when they ascertained that the execution of 
their favorite scheme of driving the French from Lake Chaniplain was to be 
deferred. However, the general ardor of the colonists was not abated, and the 
call for troops was so promptly responded to, that Loudon found himself at the 
head of six thousand provincials on the first of June. The capture of Louis- 
burg was Loudon's first care. He sailed from New York on the 20th of that 
month, and on arriving at Halifax ten days afterward [June 30], he was joined 

' Page 27. » Page 30. 

' He was a general ia the war for Independence, twenty years later. See note 1, page 249. 
* Page 269. ' Page 137. 

13 



194 



THE COLONIES. 



[1756. 



by Admiral Holborne, with a powerful naval armament and five thousand land 
troops, from England. They were about to proceed to Cape Breton,' when 
they were informed that six thousand troops were in the fortress at Louisburg,^ 
and that a French fleet, larger than Holborne' s, was lying in that harbor. 
The latter had arrived and taken position while Loudon was moving slowly, 
with his characteristic indecision. The enterprise was abandoned, and Loudon 
returned to New York [Aug. 31], to hear of defeat and disgrace on the north- 
ern frontier, the result of his ignorance and utter unskillfulness. 

Montcalm had again borne away important trophies of victory. Toward 
the close of July, he left Ticonderoga with about nine thousand men (of whom 
two thousand were Indians), and proceeded to besiege Fort William Henry, at 
the head of Lake George." The garrison of three thousand men was commanded 
by Colonel Monro, a brave English officer, who felt strengthened in his position 
by the close proximity of his chief, General Webb, who was at the head of four 
thousand troops at Fort Edward,^ only fifteen miles distant. But his confidence 
in his commanding general was sadly misplaced. When Montcalm demanded a 
surrender of the fort and garrison [August 3, 1757], Monro boldly refused, and 
sent an express to General Webb, for aid. It was not furnished. For six days 
Montcalm continued the siege, and expresses were sent daily to Webb for rein- 
forcements, but in vain. Even when General Johnson,^ with a corps of 
provincials and Putnam's Rangers, ° had, on reluctant permission, marched 
several miles in the direction of the beleaguered fort. Webb 
recalled them, and sent a letter to Monro, advising him to 
surrender. That letter was intercepted by Montcalm,' and 
with a peremptory demand for capitulation, he sent it to 
Monro. Perceiving further resistance to be useless, Monro 
yielded. Montcalm was so pleased with the bravery dis- 
played by the garrison, that he agreed upon very honorable 
terms of surrender, and promised the troops a safe escort to 
Fort Edward. His Indians, expecting blood and booty, 
were enraged by the merciful terms, and at the moment 
when the English entered the forests a mile from Fort Wil- 
liam Henry, the savages fell upon them Avith great fury, 
slaughtered a large number, plundered their baggage, and 
pursued them to within cannon shot of Fort Edward. 
Montcalm declared his inability to restrain the Indians, and 
expressed his deep sorrow. The fort and all its appendages were burned 
or otherwise destroyed.' It was never rebuilt ; and until 1854, nothing marked 

' Note 5, pa^e 137. ' Page 137. ' Page 191. " Page 190. ^ Page 190. 

^ Israel Putnam, afterward a major-general in the army of the Revolution. He now held the 
commission of major, and with Major Rogers and his rangers, performed important services during 
the whole French and Indian War. 

' It is said that Montcalm was just on the point of raising the siege and returning to Ticon- 
deroga, when Webb's cowardly letter fell into his hands. The number and strength of Johnson's 
troops liad been greatly exaggerated, and Montcalm was preparing to flee. 

" Major Putnam visited the ruins while the fires were yet burning, and he described the scene 
as very appalling. The bodies of murdered Englishmen were scattered in every direction, some of 




LAKE GEORGE AND 
VICINITY. 



1163.] FRENCH AND INDIAN "WAR. ;J^95 

its site but an irregular line of low mounds on the border of the lake, a short 
distance from the village of Caldwell. Since then a hotel has been erected 
upon the spot, for the accommodation of summer tourists. Thus ended the 
military operations of the inefficient Earl of Loudon, for the year 1757. 

The position of affairs in America now alarmed the English people. The 
result of the war, thus far, was humiliating to British pride, while it incited 
the French to greater efforts in the maintenance of their power in the West. 
In the Anglo-American' colonies there was much irritation. Thoroughly 
imbued with democratic ideas, and knowing their competency, unaided by royal 
troops, to assert and maintain their rights, they regarded the interferences of 
the home government as clogs upon their operations. Some of the royal gov- 
ernors were incompetent and rapacious, and all were marked by a haughty 
deportment, offensive to the sturdy democracy of the colonists. Their demands 
for men and money, did not always meet with cheerful and ample responses ; 
and the arrogant assumption of the English officers, disgusted the commanders 
of the provincial troops, and often cooled the zeal of whole battalions of brave 
Americans. Untrammeled by the orders, exactions, and control of imperial 
power, the Americans would probably have settled the whole matter in a single 
campaign; but at the close of the second year of the war [1756] the result 
appeared more uncertain and remote than ever. The people of England had 
perceived this clearly, and clamored for the dismissal of the weak and corrupt 
ministry then in power. The popular Avill prevailed, and William Pitt, by far 
the ablest statesman England had yet produced, was called to the control of 
public affairs in June, 1757. Energy and good judgment marked every move- 
ment of his administration, especially in measures for j^rosecuting the war in 
America. Lord Loudon was recalled,'' and General Abercrombie^ was appointed 
to succeed him. A strong naval armament was prepared and placed under the 
command of Admiral Boscawen ; and twelve thousand additional English troops 
were allotted to the service in America.^ Pitt addressed a letter to the several 
colonies, asking them to raise and clothe twenty thousand men. He promised, 
in the name of Parliament, to furnish arms, tents, and provisions for them ; 
and also to reimburse the several colonies all the money they should expend in 
raising and clothing the levies. These liberal offers had a magical effect, and 
an excess of levies soon appeared. New England alone raised fifteen thousand 
men;' New York furnished almost twenty-seven hundred, New Jersey one 

them half consumed among the embers of the conflasTation. Among the dear! were more than ono 
hundred women, many of whom had been scalped [note 4, page 14] by the Indians. 

* Tliis is the title given to Americans who are of English descent. Those who are descendants 
of the Saxons who settled in England, are called Anglo-Saxons. 

Pitt gave as a chief reason for recalling Loudon, that he could never hear from him, and did 
not know what he was about. Loudon was always arranging great plans, but executed nothing. 
It was remarked to Dr. Franklin, wlien he made inquiries concerning him, that he was "like St. 
George on tlie signs — alwa.ys on liorscback, but never rides forward." ^ Page 191. 

* Pitt had arranged such an admiral)le militia system for home defense, that a large number of 
the troops of the standing army could be spared for foreign service. 

Public and private advances during 1758, in Massachusetts alone, amounted to more than a 
million of dollars. The taxes on real estate, in order to raise money, were enormous; in many 
instances equal to two thirds of the income of the tax-payers. Yet it was levied hy their oiun repre- 
sentatives, and they did not murmur. A few years later, an almost nominal tax in the form of duty 



196 



THE COLONIES. 



[1756. 




LORD AMHERST. 



thousand, Pennsylvania almost three thousand, and Virginia over two thousand. 
Some came from other colonies. Royal American troops (as they were called) 
organized in the Carolinas, were ordered to the North ; and Avhen Abercromhie 
took command of the army in the month of May, 1758, he found fifty thousand 
men at his disposal ; a number greater than the whole male population of the 
French dominions in America, at that time.^ 

CAMPAIGN OF 1758. 

The plan of the campaign of 1758, was comprehensive. Louisburg,'' Ticon- 
deroga, and Fort du Quesne,^ were the principal points of operations pecified in 
it. This was a renewal of Shirley's scheme, and ample 
preparations were made to carry it out. The first blow 
was directed against Louisburg. Admiral Boscawen 
arrived at Halifax early in May, with about forty armed 
vessels bearing a land force of over twelve thousand men, 
under General Amherst* as chief, and General Wolfe^ as 
his lieutenant. They left Halifax on the 28th of May, 
and on the 8th of June, the troops landed, without much 
opposition, on the shore of Gabarus Bay, near the city 
of Louisburg." The French, alarmed by this demonstra- 
tion of power, almost immediately deserted their outposts, 
and retired within the town and fortress. After a vigorous resistance of almost 
fifty days, and Avhen all their shipping in the harbor was destroyed, the French 
surrendered the town and fort, together with the island of Cape Breton and 
that of St. John (now Prince Edward), and th#ir dependencies, by capitulation, 
on the 26th of July, 1758. The spoils of victory were more than five thousand 
prisoners, and a largo quantity of munitions of war. By this victory, the 
English became masters of the coast almost to the mouth of the St. Lawrence. 
When Louisburg fell, the power of France in America began to wane, and from 
that time its decline was continual and rapid. 

Activity now prevailed everywhere. While Amherst 
and Wolfe Avere conquering in the East, Abercrombie and 
young Howe were leading seven thousand regulars, nine 
thousand provincials, and a heavy train of artillery, 
against Ticonderoga, then occupied by Montcalm with 
about four thousand men. Abercrombie's army had ren- 
dezvoused at the head of Lake George, and at the close 
of a calm Sabbath evening [July, 1758] they went down 
that beautiful sheet of water in flat-boats, and at dawn 

upon an article of luxuiy, levied without their consent, excited the people of that colony to rebellion. 
See page 169. 

' The total numher of inhabitants in Canada, then capable of bearing arms, did not exceed 
twenty thousand. Of them, between four and five thousand were regular troops. 

"^ Page 229. ^ Page 186. 

* Lord Jeffrey Amherst was bom in Kent, England, in 1717. He was commander-in-cliief of 
the army in England, during a part of our war for independence, and afterward He died in 1797, 
aged eighty years. ' Note 8, page 200. * Note 5, page 137. 




TICONDEROGA. 



1763.] 



THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 



107 




LOliD HOWE. 



[July G] landed at its northern extremity. The whole 
country from there to Ticonderoga was then covered 
with a dense forest, and tangled morasses lay in the 
pathway of the English army. Led by incompetent 
guides, they were soon bewildered, and while in this 
condition, they were suddenly attacked by a French 
scouting party. The enemy was repulsed, but the vic- 
tory was at the expense of the life of Lord Howe.' He 
fell at the head of the advanced guard, and a greater 
part of the troops, who considered him the soul of the 
expedition, retreated in confusion to the landing-place. 

In the midst of the temporary confusion incident to the death of Howe, 
intelligence reached Abercrombic that a reinforcement for Montcalm waa 

approaching. Deceived concern- 
in i: the strength of the French 
lines across the neck of the pen- 
insula on wh icli the fortress stood," 
he pressed forward to the attack 
without his artillery, and ordered 
his troops to scale the breast- 
works [July 8], in the face of 
the enemy's fire. These proved 
much stronger than he antici- 
pated,^ and after a bloody con- 
flict of four hours, Abercrombie 
fell back to Lake George, leav- 
ing almost two thousand of his men dead or wounded, in the deep forest.* He 
hastened to his former camp at the head of tlie lake, and tlim. on the urgent 
solicitation of Colonel Bradstrcet, he detached tliree thousand men under that 
ofiicer, to attack the French post at Frontenac.^ They went by Avay of Oswego 




RUINS OF TICUXHEKi 



' Lord Howe was brother of Adniinil Lord TTowe, wlio commanded the British fleet on the 
American coast, in 1776-77, and of Sir WiUiam Howe, the commander of the land forces. lie waa 
greatly beloved by the troops; and Mante, who was in the service, remarks: "With him the soul 
of the expedition seemed to expire." He was only thirty-four years of age when he fell. Tho 
legislature of Massachusetts Bay appropriated one thousand two hundred and fidy dollars for a 
monument to his memory, in Westminster Abbey. His remains were conveyed to Alljany by 
Captain (afterward General) Philip Schuyler, and there placed in a vault belonging lo the flimily 
of that officer. They were afterward removed to a place under the chancel of St. Peter's Church, 
on State-street, Albany, where they remain. At the time of their removal, it was found that Lord 
Howe's hair, which was very short when he was killed, had grown several inches, and exhibited 
beautiful smooth and glossy locks. 

* Tlie diagram (p. 19(;) shows the general form of the principal works. The ground on which 
Ticonderoga stood is about one hundred feet above the level of the lake. Water is upon three sides, 
and a deep morass extends almost across the fourth, forming a narrrow neck, where the French had 
erected a strong line of breastworks with batteries. This line was about a mile north-west of the 
fortress, which occupied the point of the peninsula. The ruins of the fort, delineated in tho above 
sketch, are yet [1856] quite picturesque. 

^ The breastworks were nine feet in height, covered in front by sharpened branches of felled 
trees, pointing outward like a mass of bayonets. 

* Among the wounded was Captain Charles Loe, afterward a general in the army of the Revo- 
lution. See note 4, page 2 IS. * Pago 180. 



;198 THE COLONIES. [1756. 

and Lake Ontario, and two days after landing [August 27, 1758], they cap- 
tured the fort, garrison, and shipping, without much resistance.' Bradstreet 
lost only three or four men in the conflict, but a fearful sickness broke out in 
his camp, and destroyed about five hundred of them. With the remainder, he 
slowly retraced his steps, and at the carrying-place on the Mohawk, where the 
village of Rome now stands, his troops assisted in building Fort Stanwix." Aber- 
crombie, in the mean while, after garrisoning Fort George, ^ returned with the 
remainder of his troops to Albany. 

The expedition against Fort du Quesne,* in the West, was commanded by 
General John Forbes, who, in July, had about nine thousand men at his dis- 
posal, at Fort Cumberland and Raystown, including the Virginia troops under 
Colonel Washington, the Carolina Royal Americans, and an auxiliary force of 
Cherokee Indians. Protracted sickness, and perversity of will and judgment 
on the part of Forbes, caused delays almost fatal to the expedition. Contrary 
to the advice of Washington, he insisted, under the advice of some Pennsylvania 
land speculators, in constructing a new road, further north, over the mountains, 
instead of following the one made by Braddock. His progress was so slow, that 
in September, when it was known that not more than eight hundred men were 
at Fort du Quesne,' Forbes, with six thousand troops, was yet east of the Al- 
leghanies. Major Grant, at the head of a scouting party of Colonel Roquet's 
advanced corps, was attacked [Sept. 21], defeated, and made prisoner. Still 
Forbes moved slowly and methodically, and it was November [Nov. 8] before 
he joined Roquet with the main body, fifty miles from the point of destination. 
The approach of winter, and discontent of the troops, caused a council of war 
to decide upon abandoning the enterprise, when three prisoners gave informa- 
tion of the extreme weakness of the French garrison. AVashington was imme- 
diately sent forward, and the whole army prepared to follow. Indian scouts 
discovered the Virginians when they were within a day's march of the fort, 
and their fear greatly magnified the number of the provincials. The French 
warrison, reduced to five hundred men, set fire to the fort [Nov. 24], and fled 
down the Ohio in l)oats, in great confusion, leaving every thing behind them. 
The Virginians took possession the following day. Forbes left a detachment 
of four hundred and fifty men, to repair and garrison the fort, and then 
hastened back to go into winter quarters. The name of Fort du Quesne was 
changed to Fort Pitt^ in honor of the great English statesman.* 

' They made eight hundred prisoners, and seized nine armed vessels, sixty cannons, sixteen 
mortars, a large quantity of ammunition and stores, and goods designed for traffic with the Indians. 
Amono-'sradstreet's subalterns, was Nathaniel "Woodhull, afterward a general at the commencement 
of the°war for Independence. [See note 3, page 252.] Stark, Ward, Pomeroy, Gridley, Putnam, 
Schuyler, and many others who were distinguished in the Revolutionary struggle, were active par- 
ticipants in the scenes of the French and Indian War. 

^ Page 2'78. 

^ Fort George was erected about a mile south-east of the ruins of Fort William Henry, at the 
head of Lake George. The ruins of the mam work, or citadel, are still [185G] quite prominent. 

" Page 186. 

^ The capture of Fort Frontenac spread alarm among the French west of that important post, 
because their supplies from Canada were cut off. It so afl'ected the Indians ^ath fear, that a greater 
part of those who were aJiied to the French, deserted them, and Fort du Quesne was feebly gar- 
risoned. Page 195. 



1703.] THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 199 

With this event, closed the campaign of 1758, which resulted in great gain 
to the English. They had effectually humbled the French, by capturing three 
of their most important posts," and by weakening the attachment of their 
Indian allies. Many of the Indians had not only deserted the French, but at 
a great council held at Easton, on the Delaware, during the summer of that year 
they had, with the Six Nations,- made treaties of friendship or neutrality 
with the English.' The right arm of French success was thus paralyzed, and 
peace was restored to the frontiers of Pennsylvania and Virginia. 

CAMPAIGN OF 1759. 

Four years had elapsed since the commencement of this inter-colonial war. 
The final struggle was now at hand. Encouraged by the success of the cam- 
paigns just closed, Pitt conceived the magnificent scheme of conquering all 
Canada, and destroying, at one bloAV, the French dominion in America. That 
dominion was now confined to the region of the St. Lawrence, for more distant 
settlements in the west and south, were like weak colonies cut off from the 
parent country. Pitt had the rare fortune to possess the entire confidence and 
esteem of the Parliament and the colonists. The former was dazzled by his 
greatness ; the latter were deeply impressed with his justice. He had promptly 
reimbursed all the expenses incurred by the provincial Assemblies during the 
campaign,^ amounting to almost a million of dollars, and they as promptly sec- 
onded his scheme of conquest, which had been communicated to them under an 
oath of secresy. The unsuccessful Abercrombie^ was succeeded by the success- 
ful Amherst," and early in the sprhig of 1759, the new commander-in-chief 
found twenty thousand provincial troops at his disposal. A competent land and 
naval force was also sent from England to co-operate with the Americans, and 
the campaign opened with brilliant prospects for the colonies. The general 
plan of operations against Canada was similar to that of Phipps and Winthrop 
in 1690.^ A strong land and naval force, under General Wolfe, was to ascend 
the St. Lawrence, and attack Quebec. Another force, under Amherst, was to 
drive the French from Lake Champlain, seize Montreal, and join Wolfe at 
Quebec ; and a third expedition, commanded by General Prideaux, was to cap- 
ture Fort Niagara, and then hasten down Lake Ontario to INIontreal. 

On the 22d of July, 1759, General Amherst appeared before Ticonderoga 
with eleven thousand men. The French commander had just heard of the 
arrival of Wolfe at Quebec [June 27], and offered no resistance. The garrison 
left the lines on the 23d of July, and retired within the fort, and three days 
afterward [July 26] they abandoned that also, partially demolished it, and fled 
to Crown Point. Amherst pursued them, and on his approach, they took to 
their boats [Aug. 1], and went down the lake to Isle Aux Noix,s in the Sorel 



* Louisburg, Frontenac, and Du Quesne. Others, except Quebec, were stockades. Note 2, 
page 183. "" Page 25. 

3 The chief tribes represented, were the Delawares, Shawnees, Nanticokes. Mohegans, Conoys, 
and Monseys. The Twightwees, on the Ohio [page 19], had always remained the friends of the 
Engh.-;h. * Pago 195. ^ Page 191. 

6 Page 196. '' Page 131. * Pronounced Noo-ah. 



200 



THE COLONIES. 



[1756 




CKOWN POINT.- 



River. Amherst remained at Crown Point long enough to construct a sufficient 
number of rude boats to convey his troops, artillery, and bag- 
gan-c, and then started to drive his enemy before him, across the 
St. Lawrence. It Avas now mid-autumn [Oct. 11], and heavy 
storms compelled him to return to Crown Point, and place his 
troops in winter quarters.' While there, they constructed that 
strono- fortress, whose picturesque ruins, after the lapse of almost 
a hundred years, yet [1856] attest its strength. 
Accompanied by Sir William Johnson, as his lieuten- 
ant, Prideaux collected his forces (chiefly provincials)' 
at Oswego, and sailed from thence to Niagara. He 
landed without opposition, on the 17th of July, and im- 
mediately commenced the siege. On the same day he 
was killed, by the bursting of a gun, and was succeeded 
in command by General Johnson. The beleaguered gar- 
rison, in daily expectation of reinforcements which had 
been ordered from the southern and western forts, held 
out bravely for three Aveeks, when, on the 24th of July, 
the expected troops appeared. They were almost three thousand strong, one 
half being French regulars, and the remainder Indians, many of them from the 
Creek* and Cherokee^ nations. A severe conflict ensued. The relief forces 
were completely -routed, and on the following day [July 25], Fort Niagara and 
its dependencies, and the garrison of seven hundred men, were surrendered to 
Johnson. The connecting link of French military posts between Canada and 
Louisiana^ was effectually broken, never again to be united. Encumbered with 
his prisoners, and unable to procure a sufficient number of vessels for the pur- 
pose, Johnson could not proceed to Montreal, to co-operate with Amherst and 
Wolfe on the St. Lawrence, according to the original plan.'' He garrisoned 
Fort Niagara, and returned home. 

Animated with high hopes, Wolfe^ left Louisburg, with eight thousand 
troops, under a convoy of twenty-two line-of-battle ships, and as many frigates 




FORT NIAGARA. 



' While at Crown Point, Major Rogers, at the bead of his celebrated Rangers, went on an ex- 
pedition against the St. Francis Indians, who bad long been a terror to the frontier settlements of 
New Eno-iand. The village was destroyed, a large number of Indians were slain, and the Rangers 
were completely victorious. They suffered from cold and hunger while on their return, and many 
were left dead in the forest before the party reached the nearest settlement at Bellows Falls. 
Rogers went to England aft;er the war, returned in 1775, joined the British army at New York, 
and soon went to England again, where he died. 

^ The above diagram shows the general form of the military works at Crown Point. These, 
like the ruins at Ticonderoga, are quite picturesque remains of tlie past. A A A shows the position 
of the strong stone bairacks, portions of wliich are yet standing. W sliows the place of a very deep 
well, dug throiigh the solid rock. It was filled up, and so remained until a few years ago, when 
some money-diggers, foolishly believing there was treasure at the bottom, cleaned it out. They 
found nothing but a few scraps of iron and other rubbish. 

^ Johnson's influence over the Six Nations, made many of them disregard the treaty of neutral- 
ity made with Montcalm [note 4, page 192], and a considerable number accompnnied him to 
Niagara. * Page 30. ^ Page 27. " Page 180. ' Page 199. 

* James Wolfe was the son of a British general, and was bom in Kent, England, in 1726. Be- 
fore he was twenty years of age, he was distinguished in battle. He was now only thirty-three 
years old. 



1763.] 



THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 



201 




GEXEKAL WOLFE. 



and smaller armed vessels, commanded by Admirals Holmes and Saunders, and, 
on the 27tli of June, landed upon Orleans Island, a few miles below Quebec. 
That citj then, as now, consisted of an Upper and Lower Town, the former 
within fortified walls, upon the top and declivities of a high peninsula ; the 
latter lying upon a narrow beach at the edge of the 
water. Upon tiie heights, three hundred feet above the 
■water, was a level plateau called the Plains of Abra- 
ham. At the mouth of the St. Charles, wdiich here 
enters the St. Lawrence, the French had moored several 
floating batteries.' The tOAvn Avas strongly garrisoned 
by French regulars, and along the north bank of the 
St. Lawrence, from the St. Charles to the Montmorenci 
Kiver, was the main French army, under jMontcalm,^ in 
a fortified camp. It was composed chiefly of Canadian 
militia and Indians. 

On the 30th of July, the English, after a slight skirmish, took possession 
of Point Levi, opposite Quebec, and throwing hot shot from a battery, they 
almost destroyed the Lower Town. They could not damage the strong fortifi- 
cations of the city from that distance, 
and Wolfe resolved to attack the 
French camp. He had already land- 
ed a large force, under Generals 
Townshend and Murray, and formed 
a camp [July 10, 1759], below the 
River ]Montmorenci. General Monck- 
ton, with grenadiers^ and other ti'oops, 
crossed from Point Levi, and landed 
upon the beach [July 31], at the base 
of the high river bank, just above that stream. ISIurray and Townshend were 
ordered to force a passage across the Montmorenci, and co-operate with him, 
but ]\Ionckton was too eager for attack to await their coming. He unwisely 
rushed forward, but was soon repulsed, and compelled to take shelter behind a 
block-house' near the beach, just as a heavy thunder-storm, which had been 
gathering for several hours, burst upon the combatants. Night came on before 
it ceased, and the roar of the rising; tide warned the English to take to their 
boats. Five hundred of their number had perished. 

Two months elapsed, and yet the English had gained no important advan- 
tages. AVolfe had received no intelligence from Amherst, and the future ap- 




MILIT.VRY OPERATIONS AT QUEBEC. 



^ These were a kind of flat-boats, with proper breastworks or other defenses, and armed with 
cannons. 

' He was descended from a noble family. He was appointed governor of Canada in 1756. His 
remains are beneath the Ursulino convent at Quebec. 

* Grenadiers arc companies of the regular arniv. distinguished from the rest by some peculiarity 
of dress and accoutrements, and always composed of the tallest and most muscular men in the serv- 
ice. They are generally employed iu bayonet charges, and sometimes carrj- grenades, a kind of 
small bomb-shell * Note 3, page 192. 



202 THE COLONIES. [1756. 

peared gloomy. The exposure, fatigue, and anxiety which he had endured 
produced a violent fever, and at the beginning of September [1759], he lay 
prostrate in his tent. He called a council of war at his bedside, and, on the 
suggestion of Townshend, it was resolved to scale the heights of Abraham,' and 
assail the toAvn on its weakest side. Wolfe heartily approved of the design. 
A plan Avas speedily matured, and feeble as he was, the commander-in-chief 
determined to lead the assault in person. The camp at the Monimorenci was 
broken up [Sept. 8], and the attention of Montcalm was diverted from the real 
designs of the English, by seeming preparations to again attack his lines. The 
affair was managed so secretly and skillfully, that even De Bourgainville, who 
had been sent up the St. Lawrence by Montcalm, with fifteen hundred men, 
to watch the movements of the English, had no suspicion of their designs. 

All preparations having been completed, the English ascended the river, in 
several vessels of the fleet, on the evening of the 12th of September. They 
went several miles above the intended landing-place. Leaving the ships at 
midnight, they embarked in flat boats, with muflfied oars, and moved silently 
down to the mouth of a ravine, a mile and a half from the city, and landed.'^ 
At dawn [Sept. 13], Lieutenant- Colonel Howe^ led the van up the tangled 
ravine, in the face of a sharp fire from a guard above. He was followed by the 
generals and the remainder of the troops, with artillery ; and at sunrise the 
whole army stood in battle array upon the Plains of Abraham. It was an 
apparition little anticipated by the vigilant Montcalm. He 
perceived the peril of the city ; and marching his Avhole army 
immediately from his encampment, crossed the St. Charles, and 
between nine and ten o'clock in the morning, confronted the 
English. A general, fierce, and bloody battle now ensued. Al- 
though twice severely wounded, Wolfe kept his feet; and as 
the two armies closed upon each other, he placed himself at the 
head of his grenadiers, and led them to a charge. At that mo- 
ment a bullet entered his breast. He was carried to the rear, 
and a few moments afterward, Monckton, who took the com- 
mand, also fell, severely wounded. Townshend continued the 
battle. Montcalm soon received a fatal Avound ;^ and the French, 
terribly pierced by English bayonets, and smitten by Highland broadswords, 
broke and fled. Wolfe died just as the battle ended, with a smile upon his lips, 
because his ears heard the victory-shouts of his army. Five hundred French- 

* The declivity from Cape Diamond, on which the chief fortress stands, along the St. Lawrence 
to the cove below Sillery, was called by the general name of the Heights of Abraham, the plains of 
that name being on the top. See map on page 201. 

' Tliis place is known as WoIfe^s Cove ; and the ravine, which here breaks the steepness of the 
rocky shore, and up wliich the English clambered, is called Wolfe's Ravine. 

^ Afterward General Sir Wilham Howe, the commander-in-chief of the English forces in Amer- 
ica, when the Revolution had fairly commenced. Page 247. 

4 He was carried into the city, and when told that he must die, he said, "So much the better; 
I shall then be spared the mortification of seeing the surrender of Quebec." His remains are yet 
in Quebec; those of Wolfe were conveyed to England. People of the two nations have long dwelt 
peaceably together in tliat ancient city, and tliey have united in erecting a tall granite obelisk, 
dedicated to the hnkcd memory of Wolfe and Montcalm. 




MONITMENT TO WOLFE 
AND MONTCALM. 



1763.] THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 203 

men were killed, and (including the wounded) a thousand were taken prisoners. 
The English lost six hundred, in killed and wounded. 

General Townshend now prepared to besiege the city. Threatened famine 
within aided him; and five days after the death of Wolfe [Sept. 18, 1759], 
Quebec, with its fortifications, shipping, stores, and people, was surrendered to 
the English, and five thousand troops, under General Murray, immediately took 
possession. The fleet, with the sick and the French prisoners, sailed for 
Halifax. The campaign now ended, yet Canada was not conquered. The 
French yet held Montreal, and had a considerable land and naval force above 
Quebec. 

CAMPAIGN OF ITGO. 

Notwithstanding these terril^le disasters, the French were not dismayed, 
and early in the spring of 1760, Vaudreuil, then governor-general of Canada, 
sent M. Levi, the successor of Montcalm, to recover Quebec. He went down 
the St. Lawrence, with six frigates and a strong land force. General Murray 
marched out, and met him at Sillery, about three miles above Quebec, and 
there, on the 4th of April, was fought one of the most sanguinary battles of the 
war. Murray was defeated. He lost all his artillery, and about a thousand 
men, but succeeded in retreating to the city with the remainder. Levi now 
laid siege to Quebec, and INIurray's condition Avas becoming perilous, from the 
want of supplies, when an English squadron, with reinforcements and provisions, 
appeared [May 9] in the St. Lawrence. Levi supposed it to be the whole 
British fleet, and at once raised the siege [jMay 10], and fled to Montreal, after 
losing most of his shipping. 

Now came the final struggle. The last stronghold of the French was now 
to be assailed ; and Vandreuil gathered all his forces at Montreal for the 
conflict. Amherst had made extensive preparations during the summer ; and 
early in September [Sept. 6-7], three English armies met before the doomed 
city. Amherst, at the head of ten thousand troops, and a thousand warriors 
of the Six Nations, under General Johnson,^ arrived on the 6th, and was 
joined, the same day, by General Murray, and four thousand troops, from 
Quebec. The next day, Colonel Haviland arrived, with three thousand troops, 
from Crown Point,'- having taken possession of Isle Aux-Noix^ on the way. 
Ao-ainst such a crushino; force, resistance would be vain : and Vandreuil im- 
mediately signed a capitulation [Sept. 8, 1760], surrendering IMontreal, and 
all other French posts in Canada, into the hands of the English.* The regular 
troops, made prisoners at Montreal, were to be sent to France ; and the Cana- 
dians were guarantied perfect security in person, property, and religion.^ 
General Gage' was appointed governor at IMontreal ; and Murray, with four 
thousand men, garrisoned Quebec. 

' Page 190. "" Page 198. ^ Note 8, page 197. 

* The chief posts surrendered were Presque Isle (now Erie, Pennsylvania), Detroit, and Mac- 
kinaw. 

" They were chiefly Roman Catholics, and that is yet the prevailing religion m Lower Canada, 
« Pages 186 and 226. 



204 THE COLONIES. [175C. 

Tho conquest of Canada produced great joy in the Anglo-American 
colonies,' and in none Avas it more intense than in that of New York, 
because its whole northern frontier lay exposed to the enemy. The exultation 
■was very great in New England, too, for its eastern frontiers were now relieved 
from the terrible scourge of Indian warfare, by which they had been desolated 
six times within a little more than eighty years. In these wars, too, the 
Indians had become almost anniliilated. The sulyugation of the French seemed 
to be a guaranty of peace in the future, and the people everywhere assembled 
to utter public tlianksgiving to Ilni who rules the nations. 

Although the Avar had ceased in America, the French and English contin- 
ued it upon the ocean, and among the West India Islands, with almost con- 
tinual success for the latter, until 1763, when a definitive treaty of peace," 
agreed upon the year before, was signed at Paris [February 10, 1763], by 
which France ceded to Great Britain all her claimed possessions in America, 
eastward of the Mississippi, north of the latitude of Iberville River.' At the 
same time, Spain, Avith whom the English had been at war for a year previously, 
ceded [February 10. 1763] East and West Florida to the British croAvn. And 
now, England held undisputed possession (except by the Indians) of the Avhole 
Continent, from the shores of the Gulf of Mexico to the frozen North,* and from 
ocean to ocean.* 

The storm of war still lowered in the southern horizon, when the French 
dominion ceased in Canada. While the English Avere crushing the Gallic poAver 
in the north, the frontier settlements of the Carolinas were suffering dreadfully 
from frequent incursions of Indian war parties. French emissaries Avere busy 
among the Cherokees, hitherto the treaty friends of the English ; and their 
influence, and some wrongs inflicted upon the Indians by some frontier Virginia 
Bangers, produced hostilities, and a fierce war Avas kindled in March, 1760.* 
The Avhole Avestern frontier of the Carolinas was desolated in the course of a fcAv 
weeks. The people called aloud for help, and Amherst heeded their supplica- 
tions. Early in April, Colonel Montgomery, Avith some British regulars and 
provincial troops, marched from Charleston, South Carolina, and laid Avaste a 
portion of the Cherokee country.'^ Those bold aboriginal highlanders were not 
subdued; but AA'hen, the folloAving year. Colonel Grant led a stronger force 
against them,^ burned their toAvns, desolated their fields, and killed many of 
their warriors, they humbly sued for peace [June, 1761], and ever afterA\-ard 
remained comparatively quiet. 

The storm in the South had scarcely ceased, Avhcn another, more porten- 
tous and alarming, gathered in the North- Avest. Pontiac, a sagacious chief of 

" Note 1. page 193. * France and England, Spain and Portugal, were parties to this treaty. 

^ New Orleans, and the whole of Louisiana, was ceded by Franco to Spain at the same time, 
and she relinquished her entire possessions in North America. In 1800, Spain, by a secret treaty, 
retroceded Louisiana to France; and in 1803, Napoleon sold it to the United States for fifteen mil- 
lions of dollars. See page 390. 

* The cost, to England, of this Seven Years^ Way; as the conflict was called in Europe, was five 
hundred and sixty millions of dollars. ^ Page 27. " Page 27. 

' Marion, Moultrie, and several other men, afterward distinguished in the war for Independ- 
ence, accompanied Grant on this occasion. 



lfG3.] THE FRENCH AXD INDIAN WAR. 



205 



the Ottawas/ -who had been an carlj ally of the French, secretly confederated 
several of the Algonquin tribes, in 1TG3, for the purpose of cxpellino' the 
English from the country west of the Alleghanies.' After the fall of Montreal ' 
Pontiac had professed an attachment to the English ; and as there seemed safety 
for settlers west of the mountains, immigration began to pour its livino' stream 
over those barriers. Like Philip of Mount Hope,' Pontiac saw, in the future, 
visions of the displacement, perhaps destruction, of his race, by the pale-flices • 
and he determined to strike a blow for life and country. So adroitly were his 
plans matured, that the commanders of the western forts had no suspicions of 
his conspiracy until it was ripe, and the first blow had been struck, in the 
month of June. Within a fortnight, all the posts in possession of the English, 
west of Oswego, fell into his hands, except Niagara,^ Fort Pitt,« and Detroit. 
Colonel Bouquet saved Pittsburg;' Niagara was not attacked; and Detroit, 
after sustaining a siege of almost twelve months, was relieved by Colonel Brad- 
street,^ who arrived there with reinforcements, in May, 1764. The Indians 
were now speedily subdued, their power was broken, and the hostile tribes sent 
their chiefs to ask for pardon and peace. The haughty Pontiac refused 
to bow to the white people, and took refuge in the country of the Illinois, 
where he was treacherously murdered^ in 1769. This was the last act in the 
dramaof the French and Indian War.'" 

In our consideration of the history of the United States, we have now 
arrived at a point of great interest and importance. We have traced the growth 
of the colonies through inflmcy and youth, as their interests and destinies gradu- 
ally commingled, until they really formed one people,'' strong and lusty, like 



" Pago 18. 

* The confederation consisted of the Ottawas, Miaraies, "VTyandots, Chippewas, Pottawatomies, 
Mississaguies, Shawnees, Outagamies or Foxes, and Winnebagoes. The Senecas, tlie most westerly 
clan of the Six Nations, also joined in the conspiraev. ' Page 20,"!. 

* Page 124. * Page 200. « Page 198". 

' Henry Bouquet was a brave English ofScer. He was appointed lieutenant-colonel in lT5il, 
and was in the expedition against Fort du Quesne (page 198). In 1763, Amherst sent him from 
Montreal, with provisions and military stores for Fort Pitt. His arrival was timely, and he saved 
the garrison from destruction. The following year he commanded an expedition against the Indians 
in Ohio, and was successful. His journal was published after the war. " Page 1 98. 

° An P]nglish trader bribed a Peoria Indian to murder him, for which he gave him a barrel of 
rum. The place of his death was Cahokia, a small village on the east side of the Mississi])pi, a Httio 
below St. Louis. Pontiac Avas one of the greatest of all the Indian chiefs known to the wiiite peo- 
ple, and deserved a better fete. It is said, that during the war of 17 03, he apjwinted a coinmis.sary, 
and issued bills of credit. So highly was he esteemed by the French inhal)itants, that these were 
received by them. Montcalm thought much of him; and at the time of his death, Pontiac was 
dressed in a French uniform, presented to him by that commander. See page 202. Pontiac was 
buried where the city of St. Louis now stands, and that busy mart is his monument, though not his 
memorial. 

" The work most accessible to the general reader, in which the details of colonial events may 
be founl, is Graham's Colonial History of the United States, in two volumes octavo, published by 
Blanchard and Lea, Philadelphia. 

" It must not be understood, that there was j-ot a perfect unity of feeling among the various 
colonists. Sectional interests produced sectional jealousies, and these worked much n.ischief, even 
while soldiers from almost every colony were fighting .shoulder to siioulder [page 190] in the conti- 
nental army. Burnaby, wh.j traveled in America at this period, expressed the opinion, that 
sectionul jealousy and dissimilarity would prevent a permanent union ; yet he avers that the people 
were imbued with ideas of independence, and that it was frequently remarked among them, that 
''the tide of dominion was running westward, and that America was destined to be the mistress of 
the world." TJio colonists themselves were not unmindful of tlie importance of their position, and 



206 THE COLONIES. [1756. 

the mature man, prepared to vindicate natural rights, and to fashion political and 
social systems adapted to their position and wants. We view them now, con- 
scious of their physical and moral strength, possessing clear views of right and 
justice, and prepared to demand and defend hoth. This is the point in the 
progress of the new and growing nation to which our observation is now 
directed, when the great question was to be decided, whether independent self- 
control should be enjoyed, or continued vassalage to an ungenerous parent 
should be endured. Our next topic will be the events connected with the 
settlement of that question. It is a topic of highest significance. It looms up 
in the panorama of national histories like some giant Alp, far above its fellows, 
isolated in grandeur, yet assimilated in sympathy with all others. 



they gave freely of their substance to carry on the contest for the mastery. Probably, the " Seven 
Years' War" cost the colonies, in the aggregate, full twenty mOlions of dollars, besides the flower 
of their youtli ; and, in return. Parliament granted them, during the contest, at difterent periods, 
about five millions and a lialf of dollars. Parliament subsequently voted one miUion of dollars to 
the colonies, but, on account of the troubles arising from the Stamp Act and kindred measures, min- 
isters withheld the sum. 

The following is a list, taken from official records, of "The grants in Parliament for Rewards, 
Encouragement, and Indemnification to the Proviuces in North America, for their Services and Ex- 
penses during the last [seven years'] "War : 

" On the 3d of February, 1756, as a free gift and reward to the colonies of New England, New 
Tork, and Jersey, for their past services, and as an encouragement to continue to exert themselves 
•with vigor, $575,000. 

"May 19th, 1757. For the use and rehef of the provinces of North and South Carolma, and 
Virginia, in recompense for services performed and to be performed, $250,000. 

" June 1st, 1758. To reimburse the province of Massachusetts Bay their expenses in fi_irnishing 
provisions and stores to the troops raised by them hi 1756, $136,900. To rehuburse the provmce 
of Connecticut their expenses for ditto, $68,680. 

"April 30th, 1759. As a compensation to the respective colonies for the expenses of clothiug, 
pay of troops, etc., $1,000,000. 

"March 31st, 1760. For the same, $1,000,000. For the colony of New Tork, to reimburse 
their expenses in furnishing provisions and stores to the troops in 1756, $14,885. 

"Jan. 20th, 1761. As a compensation to the respective colonies for clothing, pay of the troops, 
etc., ?S1,000.000. 

"Jan. 26th, 1762. Ditto, $666,666. 

"March 15th, 1763. Ditto, $666,666. 

"April 2 2d, 1770. To reimburse the province of New Hampshire their expenses in furnishing 
provisions and stores to the troops in the campaign of 1756, $30,045. Total, $5,408,842." 

In a pamphlet, entitled Rights of Britain and Claims of America, an answer to the Declara- 
tion of the Continental Congress, setting forth the causes and the necessity of their taking up arms, 
printed in 1776, is a table showing the annual expenditures of the British government in support of 
the civil and mihtary powers of the American colonies, from the accession of the family of Hanover, 
in 1714, until 1775. The expression of the writer is, "Employed in the defense of America" Tliis 
is incorrect; for the wars with the French on this continent, which cost the greatest amount of 
money, were wars for conquest and territory, though ostensibly for the defense of the Anglo-Amer- 
ican colonies against the encroachments of then- Gallic neighbors. During the period alluded to 
(sixty years), the sums granted for the army amounted to $43,899,625 ; for the navy, $50,000,000; 
money" laid out in Indian presents, in holding Congresses, and purchasing cessions of land, 
$30,500,000; making a total of $123,899,625. Within that period the following bounties on 
American commodities were paid: On indigo, $725,110; on hemp and flax, $27,800; on naval 
stores imported into Great Britain from America, $7,293,810; making the total sum paid on ac- 
count of bounties, $8,047,320. The total amount of money expended in sixty years on account of 
America, $131,946,945. 




THE REVOLUTION. PRELIMINARY EVENTS. 
1761—1775. 



JAMES OTIS. 



CHAPTER 

Principles, like the ultimate particles of' 
matter, and the laws of God, are eternal, inde- 
structible, and unchangeable. Thej have 
existed in the moral realm of our world since the advent of man ; and devious 
as may be their manifestations, according to circumstances, they remain the 
same, inherently, and always exhibit the same tendencies. When God gave to 
man an intelligent soul, and invested him with the prerogatives of moral free 
agency, then was born that instinctive love of liberty which, through all past 
time, has manifested itself in individuals and in societies ; and in every age, the 
consciences of men have boldly and indignantly asked, in the presence of 
oppression, 

" If I'm design'd j^on lordling's slave, 

By Nature's laws designed ; 
Why was an independent wish 

E'er planted in my mind ? 
If not, why am I subject to 

His cruelty or scorn? 
Or why has man the will and pow'r 

To make his fellow mourn ?"' ' 



Burns. 



208 THE REVOLUTION. [1761. 

Nations, like men, have thus spoken. The principles of civil and religious 
liberty, and the inalienable rights of man which they involve, were recognized 
and asserted long before Columbus left Palos for the New World.' Their 
maintenance had shaken thrones and overturned dynasties before Charles the 
First was brought to the block ;-' and they had lighted the torch of revolution long 
before the trumpet-tones of James Otis^ and Patrick Henry' aroused the Anglo- 
Americans' to resist British aggression. From the earliest steps in the progress 
of the American colonies, we have seen the democratic theories of all past reform- 
ers developed into sturdy democratic practice ; and a love of liberty which had 
germinated beneath the heat of persecution in the Old World, budded and 
blossomed all over the New, wherever English hearts beat, or English tongues 
gave utterance. Nor did English hearts alone cherish the precious seedling, 
nor Eno-lish tongues alone utter the noble doctrines of popular sovereignty ; but 
in the homes of all in this beautiful land, whatever country gave the inmates 
birth, there was a shrine of freedom, ami a refuge for the oppressed. Here 
kino--craft and priest-craft never had an abiding-place, and their ministers were 
always weak in the majestic presence of the popular will. 

Upon the bleak shores of Massachusetts Bay ; upon the banks of the Hud- 
son, the Delaware, the Potomac, and the James ; and amid the pine-forests or 
beneath the palmettos of the Carolinas, and the further South, the colonists, 
from the very beginning, had evinced an impatience of arbitrary iiAe ; and 
every manifestation of undue control by local magistrates or distant monarchs — 
every eifort to abridge their liberties or absorb their gains, stimulated the 
growth of democratic principles. These permeated the whole social and politi- 
cal life in America, and finally evolved from the crude materials of royal 
charters, religious covenants, and popular axioms, that galaxy of representative 
governments which, having the justice of the English Constitution, the truth 
of Christian ethics, and the wisdom of past experience for their foundation, 
were united in "the fullness of time,"' in that symmetrical combination of free 
institutions known as the Republic of the United States of America. 

It is a common error to i\'gard the Revolution which attended the birth of 
this Republic, as an isolated episode in the history of nations, having its causes 
in events immediately preceding the convulsion. It was not the violent result 
of recent discontents, but the culmination of a long series of causes tending to 
such a climax. The parliamentary enactments Avhich kindled the rebellion in 
1775, were not oppressive measures entirely novel. They had their counter- 
parts in the British statute books, even as early as the restoration of monarchy 
[1660J° a hundred years before, w^hen navigation laws,' intended to crush the 
growing commerce of the colonies were enacted. They were only re-assertions 
of tyrannical legislative power and royal prerogatives, to which the colonies, in 
the weakness of their infancy and early youth, were compelled to submit. Noav 
they had grown to maturity, and dared to insist upon receiving exact justice. 



Pasje 39. " Xote :!, page lOS. ^ Page 212. " Xote 1, paGce 214. 

Note 1, page 19.-5. ' Page 109. ' Note 4, page 109. 



n75.] PRELIMINARY EVENTS. 209 

They had recently emerged from an exhausting war, which, instead of weaken- 
ing them, had taught them their real moral, political, and physical strength. 
They had also learned the important lesson of power in union, and profited by 
its teaching.^. Having acquired a mastery over the savages of the wilderness, 
and assisted in breaking the French power on their frontiers, into atoms, ' they 
felt their manhood stirring within them, and they tacitly agreed no longer to 
submit to the narrow and oppressive policy of Great Britain. Their industry 
and commerce were too expansive to be confined within the narrow limits of 
those restrictions which the Board of Trade,^ from time to time, had imposed, 
and they determined to regard them as mere ropes of sand. For long and 
gloomy years they had struggled up, unaided and alone, from feebleness to 
strength. They had built fortifications, raised armies, and fought battles, for 
England's glory and their own preservation, without England's aid, and often 
without her sympathy.^ And it was not until the growing importance of the 
French settlements excited the jealousy of Great Britain, that her ministers 
perceived the expediency of justice and liberality toward her colonies, in order 
to secure their loyalty and efficient co-operation.* Compelled to be self-reliant 
from the beginning, the colonists were made strong by the mother's neglect ; 
and when to that neglect she added oppression and scorn, they felt justified in 
using their developed strength in defense of their rights. 

The colonists had grown strong, not only in material prosperity, percep- 
tions of inalienable rights, and a will to be free, but in many things in which 
the strength and beauty of a State consist, they exhibited all the most prom- 
inent developments of a great nation. A love for the fine arts had been grow- 
ing apace for many years ; and when the Revolution broke out, West' and 
Copley,' natives of America, were wearing, in Europe, the laurel-crowns of 
supreme excellence as painters. Literature and science were beginning to be 
highly appreciated, and the six colonial colleges' were full of students. God- 
frey, the glazier, who invented the quadrant, had flourished and passed away;' 

' Page 203. " Note 5. page 134. 

' Georgia, alone, received parliamentary aid [page 100], in the establishment of settlements. In 
all the other colonies, where vast sums were expended in fitting out expeditions, purchasing the 
soil of the Indians, and sustaining the settlers, neither the crown nor parliament ever contributed 
a farthing of pecuniary aid. The settling of Massachusetts alone, cost a million of dollars. Lord 
Baltimore spent two hundred thousand dollars in colonizing Maryland ; and William Penn became; 
deeply involved in debt, in his efforts to settle and improve Pennsylvania. * Page 197. 

^ Benjamin West was bom in Chester county, Pennsylvania, in 1738. His parents were 
Quakers. He commenced art-life as a portrait-painter, when wealthy men ftirnishcd him with 
means to go to Italy. He soon triumphed, went to England, was patronized by the king, and 
became the most eminent historical painter of his age. He died in London in 1820, in the eighty- 
second year of his age. 

" John Smgleton Copley was also bom in 1738, in the city of Boston. Ho bocamo a pupil of 
Smibert [note 8, paire 158], and became an eminent portrait-painter. His family relations identified 
him with the Royalists at the commencement of the Revolution, and he went to England to seek 
employment, where he was patronized by West. There he painted two memorable pictures ; one 
for the House of Lords, the other for the House of Commons. These estabhshed his fame, and led to 
fortune. His son became lord chancellor of England, and was made a peer, with the title of Lord 
Lyndhurst. Copley died in England, in 1815, at the age of seventv-sevcn years. 

' Page 178. 

* Thomas Godfrey was a native of Pennsylvania, and was born in 1704. He was the real 
inventor of the quadrant known as Hadley's. See Lossing's Eminent Americans. 

13 



210 



THE REVOLUTION". 



[1761. 



Bartram, the farmer, had become "American Botanist to his Majesty;"' 
FrankUu, the printer, was known, wherever civilization had planted her ban- 
ners, as the lightning-tamer and profound moral philosopher ; and Rittenhouse, 
the clock-maker, had calculated and observed the transit of Venus, and con- 




{/Jmf 1^^ 



structed that Planetarium which is yet a wonder in the world of mechanism.' 
Theology and the legal profession, had taken high ground. Edwards' had 
written his great work on The Vreedom of the WiU,, and was among the 
dead ; and already Otis,* Henry,^ Dickenson,* Rutledge,' and other lawyers, 
had made their brilliant marks, and were prepared to engage in the great strug- 
gle at hand. All classes of men had noble representatives in the colonies, when 
the conflict commenced. 

There was no cause for complaint on the part of the colonists, of the willful 
•exercise of tyrannical power, for purposes of oppression, by Great Britain. 

' See Lossing's Eminent Americans. 

^ David Rittenhouse was born in Roxborough, Pennsylvania, in 1732. As he exhibited great 
mechanical genius, his father apprenticed him to a clocl<-inaker, and he became one of the most 
eminent mechanicians and mathematicians of his time. He discovered that remarkable feature in 
algebraic anal3'sis, called fluxions, and applied it to the mechanic arts. He constructed a machine 
which represented the motions of the solar system. That Planetarium is now in the possession of 
the College of New Jersey, at Princeton. Rittenhouse succeeded Franklin as president of the 
American Philosophical Society. He died in 1793, at the age of sixty-four years. 

^ Jonathan Edwards was one of the most eminent of American divines. He was bom in East 
Windsor, Connecticut, in 1703, and died at Princeton, New Jersey, while president of the college, 
In 1758. * Page 212. ' Page 214. « Page 219. ' Page 310. 



1775.] 



PRELIMINARY EVENTS. 



211 



There was no motive for such a course. But they reasonably complained of 
an unjust and illiberal policy, which accomplished all the purposes of absolute 
tyranny. The rod of iron was often covered with velvet, and w;i3 wielded as 
often by ignorant, rather than by wicked, hands. Yet the ignorant hand, with 




the concealed rod, smote as lustily and offensively, as if it had been a wicked 
one, and the rod bare. The first form of governmental and proprietary oppres- 
sion' was in the appointment of local rulers. The people were not represented 
in the appointing power. Then came commercial restrictions,^ prohibitions to 
manufacture,^ imposts upon exchanges,^ and direct taxation, by enactments of 
parliament, in which the colonists were not represented. At the beginning, 
they had asserted, and during their whole progress they had maintained, that 
important political maxim, that taxation icithout representation, is tyranny. 
This was the fundamental doctrine of their political creed — this was the test of 
all parliamentary measures —this was the strong rock upon which the patriots 
of the Revolution anchored their faith and hope. 

When the French and Indian War was closed by the treaty of Paris, 



• Throe forms of government had existed, namely, charter, ■proprietary, and royal The New 
Enj-land governments were based upon royal charters; New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and 
the C'arolinas, were owned and governed by individuals or companies, and the remainder were 
immediately subject to the crown. Notwithstanding this diversity in the source of government, the 
anti-monarchical spirit pervaded the people of all, from the beginning, and gave binh to popular 
legislative assemblies. 

' Note 3, page 177. ' Pages 177 and 178. Pago 1.8. 



212 THE REVOLUTION. [HGl. 

in 1763, the colonists looked forward to long years of prosperity and 
repose. A young monarch,' virtuous and of upright intentions, had been 
recently [1761] seated upon the British throne. Having confidence in his 
integrity, and having lately felt the justice of the government, under the direc- 
tion of Pitt,- they were disposed to forget past grievances; and being identified 
with the glory of England, now become one of the first powers on the earth, 
they were fond of their connection. But the serenity of the political sky soon 
disappeared, and it was not long before violent tempests were raging there. 
Even before the treaty at Paris, a cloud had arisen which portended future 
trouble. The war had exhausted the British treasury,' and ministers devised 
various schemes for replenishing it. They had observed the resources of the 
colonists, as manifested by their efforts during the recent struggle,* and as they 
were relieved from further hostilities by the subjugation of Canada' [1759], 
the o-overnment looked to them for aid. Instead of asking it as a favor ^ it was 
demanded as a right ; instead of inviting the colonial Assemblies to levy taxes 
and make appropriations, government assumed the right to tax their expanding 
commerce ; and then commenced a vigorous enforcement of existing revenue 
laws, which had hitherto been only nominally oppressive.' 

One of the first acts which revealed the intentions of Parliament to tax the 
colonies by enforcing the revenue laws, was the authorization, in 1761, of 
Writs of Assistance. These were general search-warrants, which not only 
allowed the king's ofiicers who held them, to break open any citizen's store or 
dwellino-, to search for and seize foreign merchandise, on which a duty had not 
been paid, but compelled sheriffs and others to assist in the work. The people 
could not brook such a system of petty oppression. The sanctities of private 
life might be invaded, at any time, by hirelings, and the assertion, based upon 
the guaranties of the British Constitution, that "every Englishman's house is 
his castle," Avould not be true. These w^rits were first issued in Massachusetts, 
and immediately great excitement prevailed. Their legality was questioned, and 
the matter was brought before a court held in the old town hall in Boston. 
The advocate for the Crown (Mr. Gridley) argued, that as Parliament was the 
supreme legislature for the whole British nation, and had authorized these 
writs, no subject had a right to complain. He was answered by James Otis,^ 



* George the Tliird. He was crowned in 1161, at the age of twenty years. He reigned almost 
sixty years, and died in 1820. ' Page 195. ^ Note 4. page 204. 

* French and Indian War. ^ Page 204. 

* Commercial restrictions were imposed upon the colonies as early as 1G51 [note 4, page 109]. 
In 1G60, 1672, 1676, 1691, and 1692, attempts were made by parliament to derive a revenue by a 
tarifi-taxation upon the colonies. In 1696 a proposition was made to levy a direct tax upon the 
colonies. Then, not only in Britain, but in America, tlie power of parliament (wherein tlie colonists 
were not represented), to tax those colonies, -\\'as strenuously denied. 

' James Otis was born in Barnstable, Massachusetts, in 1725, and became the leader of the 
Revolutionary party in that province, at the beginning. He was wounded by a blow from a cudgel, 
in the hands of a British official in 1769, and never fairly recovered. For years he was afflicted 
with occasional lunacy, and presented but a wreck of the orator and scholar. The following anec- 
dote is related of Mr. Otis, as illustrative of his ready use of Latin, even during moments of mental 
aberration. Men and boys, heartless or thoughtless, would sometimes make tliemselves merry at 
Ms expense, when he was seen in the streets afflicted witli lunacy. On one occasion he was pass- 
ing a crockery store, when a young man, who had a knowledge of Latin, sprinkled some water 



1775.] PRELIMINARY EVENTS. 213 

the younger, then advocate-general of the province. On that occasion, the 
intense fire of his patriotism beamed forth with inexpressible brilliancy, and his 
eloquence was like lightning, far-felt and consuming. On that day the trumpet 
of the Revolution was sounded. John Adams afterward said, "The seeds of 
patriots and heroes were then and there sown ;"and when the orator exclaimed, 
" To my dying day I will oppose, with all the power and faculties God has given 
me, all such instruments of slavery on one hand, and villanyon the other," the 
independence of the colonies was proclaimed. ' From that day began the triumphs 
of the po})ular will. Very few writs were issued, and these were ineffectual. 

Young King George unwisely turned his back upon Pitt,'^ and listened to 
the councils of Bute,^ an unprincipled Scotch adventurer, who had been his 
tutor. Disastrous consequences ensued. Weak and corrupt men controlled 
his cabinet, and the pliant Parliament approved of illiberal and unjust mea; .res 
toward the colonists. The Sugar bill,* Avhich had produced a great deal of ill- 
feeling in the colonies, was re-enacted ; and at the same time, George Grenville, 
then prime minister, proposed -'certain stamp duties on the colonies.'' The 
subject was left open for consideration almost a year, when, in the spring of 
1765, in defiance of the universal opposition of the Americans, the famous 
Stamp Act, which declared that no legal instrument of writing should be valid, 
unless it bore a government stamp, became a law.^ Now was executed, without 
hesitation, a measure which no former ministry had possessed courage or reck- 
lessness enough to attempt." 

upon him from a sprinkliug-pot with which he was wetting the floor of the second story, at the same 
time sayina:, Pluit tantum, nescio quaniuin. Scis lie iuf "It rains so much, I know not liow much. 
Do you know?" Otis immediately picked up a niissUe, and, hurling it through the window of tho 
crockery store, it smashing every thing in its way, exclaimed, Fregi tot, nescio quot. Scis ne iu f 
"I have broken so many, I know not how many. Do you know?" Mr. Otis, according to liis 
expressed desire, was killed by lightning in 1782. See portrait at the head of this chapter. 

' Later than this [1768], Otis wrote to a friend in London, and said: "Our fathers were a good 
people ; we have been a, free people, and if you will not let us remain so any longer, we shall be a 
great people, and the present measures can have no tendency but to hasten with great rapidity, 
events which every good and honest man would wish delayed for ages." He evidently alluded to 
the future independence of the colonies.^ 

^ Pitt, disgusted by the ignorance and assurance of Bute and the misplaced confidence of the 
king, resigned his office, and retired to his country seat at Hayes. The king esteemed him highly, 
but was too much controlled by Bute to follow his own incUnations. It was not long, however, 
before public affairs became so complicated, that the king was compelled to call upon the great 
commoner to untangle them. 

^ Bute was a gay Scotch earl, poor and proud. He became a favorite with the mother of Georgo 
the Third, was appointed his tutor, and acquired such influence over the mind of tlie prince, that on 
his accession to tlie throne, ho made him his chief minister and adviser. The English people were 
much incensed ; and the unwise measures of the early years of George's reign, were properly laid 
to the charge of Bute. A placard was put up in London, with tho words, "No Scotch minister — 
no petticoat goverimient." The last clause referred to the influence of the queen mother. 

^ A bill which imposed a duty upon sugar, coffee, indigo, &c., imported into the colonies from 
the West Indies. 

' The stamps -nrcre upon liluo paper, in the form seen in the engraving on page 213, and were 
to be attached to every piece of paper or parchment, on which a legal instrument was written. 
For tliese stamps government charged specific prices: for example, for a conunon property deed, 
one shilling and sixpence; for a diploma or certificate of a college degree, two pounds, ic, Ac. 

6 During Rol)ert Walpole's admiuistratiou [1732], a stamp duty was proposed. He said, "I 
will leave the taxation of America, to some of my successors, who have more cotn-age than I have." 
Sir William Keith, governor of Pennsvlvania. proposed such a tax in 1739. Franklin thought it 
just, when a dele<rate iu the Colnniai Congress at Albany, in 1754 [page 183]. But when it was 
propcsed to Pitt in 1759, he said, "I will never burn my fingers with an American Stamp Act." 



214 



THE REVOLUTION. 



[1761. 



The colonists had watched with anxiety the growth of this new germ of 
oppression ; and the intelligence of the passage of the Act produced general 
and intense indignation in America. The hearts of the people were yet thrilled 
by the eloquent denunciations of Otis ; and soon Patrick Henry sent forth a 




response equally eloquent from the heaving bosom of the Virginia Assembly.' 
The people, in cities and villages, gathered in excited groups, and boldly 
expressed their indignation. The pulpit denounced the wicked scheme, and 

^ Patrick Henry was a very Boanerges at the opening of the Revolution. He was bom in 
Hanover County, Virginia, in 1736. In youth and manhood he was exceedingly indolent and dull. 
At the age of twenty-seven, his eloquence suddenly beamed fortli in a speech in court, in his native 
county, and he soon became a leading man in Virginia. He was elected the first Republican gov- 
ernor of his State, in 1776, and held tliat office again in 1784. He died in 1799, at the age of 
almost sixty-three j'ears. At the time alluded to in the text, Henry introduced a series of resolu- 
tions, highly tinctured with rebellious doctrines. He asserted the general rights of all the colonies; 
then the exclusive right of the Virginia Assembly to tax the people of that province, and boldly 
declared that the people were not bound to obey any law relative to taxation, which did not pro- 
ceed from tlieir representatives. The last resolution declared that whoever should dissent from the 
doctrines inculcated in the others, should be considered an " enemy of the colonies." The introduc- 
tion of these resolutions produced great excitement and alarm. Henry supported them with all the 
power of his wonderful eloquence. Some rose from their seats, and otliers sat in breathless silence. 
At length, when alluding to tyrants, he exclaimed, " Cajsar had his Brutus, Charles the First his 
Cromwell, and George the Third" — there was a cry of " Treason ! Treason !" He paused a moment, 
and said — " may profit by their example. If that be treason, make the most of it." [See picture 
at the head of this cliapter.] A part of his resolutions were adopted, and these formed the first 
gauntlet of defiance cast at the feet of the British monarch. Their power was felt throughout the 
land. 



1775.] 



PRELIMINARY EVENTS. 



215 




associations of jSo7is of Liber ti/ in every colony put forth their energies in 
defense of popular freedom. The press, then assuming great power, spoke out 
like an oracle of Truth. In several cities popular excite- 
ment created mobs, and violence ensued. The Stamps 
were seized on their arrival, and secreted or burned. 
Stamp distributors' were insulted and despised ; and on 
the first of November, 1765, when the law was to take 
effect, there were no officials courageous enough to 
enforce it. 

. The people did not confine their opposition to expres- 
sions at indignation meetings, and acts of violence. The 
public sentiment took a more dignified form, and assumed 
an aspect of nationality. There was a prevailing desire 
for a general Congress, and several colonies, in the midst of the great excite- 
ment, appointed delegates for that purpose. They met in the city of New 
York, on the 7th of October, 1765,^ continued in session fourteen days, and in 
tkree well-written documents," they ably set forth the grievances and the rights 
of the colonists, and petitioned the king and parliament for a redress of the 
former, and acknowledgment of the latter. The proceedings of this Second 
Colonial Congress^ were applauded by all the provincial Assemblies, and the 
people of America were as firmly united in heart and purpose then, as they 
were after the Declaration of Independence, more than ten years later. 

At length the momentous day — the first of November — arrived. It was 
observed as a day of fasting and mourning. Funeral processions paraded the 
streets of cities, and bells tolled funeral knells. The colors of sailing vessels 
were placed at half-mast, and the newspapers exhibited the black-line tokens 
of public grief The courts were now closed, legal marriages ceased, ships 
remained in port, and for some time all business was suspended. But the lull 
in the storm was of brief duration. The people were only gathering strength 
for more vigorous achievements in defense of their rights. The Sons of Lib- 
erty put forth new efforts ; mobs began to assail the residences of oflBcials, and 
burn distinguished royalists, in effigy.^ Merchants entered into agreements 



* These associations were composed of popular leaders and others, who leagued with the 
avowed determination to resist oppression to the uttermost. After their organization in the differ- 
ent colonies, they formed a sort of national league, and by continual correspondence, aided eflectu- 
aUy in preparing the way for the Revolution. 

^ Men appointed by the crown to sell the government stamps, or stamped paper. 

^ Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Manland, and South 
Carolina, were represented. The Assemblies of those not represented, declared their rcadmess to 
agree to whatever measures the Congress might adopt. Timothy Ruggles, of Massachusetts (who 
alierward commanded a corps of Tories) [note 4, page 224], presided. 

* A Declaration of Eights, wTitten by John Cruger, of New York ; a Memorial to both Houses of 
Parliament, by Robert R. Livingston, of New York; and a Petition to tlui kiri'j, by James Otis, of 
Massachusetts. ' Page 183. 

' Public indignation is thus sometimes manifested. A figure of a man intended to represent 
the obnoxious individual, is paraded, and then hung upon a scaffold, or burned at a stake, as aa 
intimation of the deserved fate of the person thus represented. It was a common practice in En- 
gland at the time in question, and has been often done in our o^\■n country since. Nowhere was 
popular indignation so warmly manifested as in New York. Cadwallader Golden, a venerable 
Scotchman of eighty years, was acting-governor of New York. Ho refused to dcUver up the 



216 



THE REVOLUTION. 



[1761. 



not to import goods from Great Britain while the obnoxious Act remained a law ; 
and domestic manufactures were commenced in almost every family.' The 
wealthiest vied with the middling classes in economy, and wore clothing of 
their own manufacture. That wool might not become scarce, the use of sheep 




flesh for food, was discouraged. Soon, from all classes in America, there went 
to the ears of the British ministry, a respectful but firm protest. It was 
seconded by the merchants and manufacturers of London, whose American 
trade was prostrated,'* and the voice, thus made potential, was heard and heeded 
in high places. 

stamped paper on the demand of the people, when they proceeded to hang him in effigy, near the 
spot where Leisler was executed [page 148] seventy-flve years before. They also burned his fine 
coach in front of the fort, near the present Bowling "Green, and upon the smoking pile they cast his 
effigy. Golden was a man of great scientific attainments. He wTote a Histonj of the Firt Xations 
[page 23], and was in constant correspondence with some of the most eminent "philosopliers and 
scholars of Europe. A life of Golden, from the pen of John W. Francis, M.D., L.LD., may be found 
in the American Medical and Philosophical Register, 1811. He died in September, 1776. 

' The newspapers of the day contain many laudatory notices of the conformity of wealthy 
people to these agreements. On one occasion, forty or fifi;y young ladies, who called themselves 
"Daughters of Liberty," met at the house of the Rev. Mr. Morehead, in Boston, with their spinning- 
wheels, and spun two hundred and thirty-two skeins of yarn, during the day, and presented them 
to the pastor. It is said "there were upward of one hundred spinners in Mr. Morehead's Society." 
"Within eighteen months,'' wrote a gentleman at Newport, R. I., "four hundred and eighty -seven 
yards of cloth, and thirty-six pairs of stockmgs, have been spun and knit in the family of James 
Nixon, of this town." 

" Half a million of dollars were due them by the colonists, at that time, not a dime of which 
could be collected under the existing state of thinfrs. 




1115.] PRELIMINARY EVENTS. 217 

While these events were in progress, Grenville had been succeeded in office 
by the Marquis of Rockingham, a friend of the colonies, and an enlightened 
statesman. William Pitt,' -who had been called from his retirement by the 
voice of the people, hoping much from the new ministry, appeared in Parlia- 
ment, and was there the earnest champion of the Amer- 
icans. Justice and expediency demanded a repeal of the 
Stamp Act, and early in January, 1706, a bill for that 
purpose was introduced into the House of Commons, and 
was warmly supported by Pitt, Colonel Barrc, and others. 
Then Edmund Burke first appeared as the champion of 
right; and during the stormy debates on the sulyect, 
which ensued, he achieved some of those earliest and 
most wonderful triumphs of oratory, which established his 
fame, and endeared him to the American people.^ The 

obnoxious act was repealed on the 18th of March, 170G, Avhen London ware- 
houses were illuminated, and flags decorated the shipping in the Thames. In 
America, public thanksgivings, bonfires, and illuminations, attested the general 
joy ; and Pitt,^ who had boldly declared his conviction that Parliament had no 
right to tax the colonies without their consent,*" was lauded as a political Mes- 
siah. Non-importation associations were dissolved, business was resumed, and the 
Americans confidently expected justice from the mother country, and a speedy 
reconciliation. Alas ! the scene soon changed. 

Another storm soon began to lower. Pitt, himself tenacious of British 
honor, and doubtful of the passage of the Repeal Bill without some concessions, 
had appended to it an act, which declared that Parliament possessed the power 
" to bind the colonies, in all cases whatsoever." The egg of tyranny which 
lay concealed in this " declaratory act," as it was called, was not perceived by 
the colonists, while their eyes were filled with tears of joy ; but when calm re- 
flection came, they saw clearly that germ of future oppressions, and were 
uneasy. They perceived the Repeal Bill to be only a truce in the war upon 
freedom in America, and they watched every movement of the government 
party with suspicion. Within a few months afterward, a brood of obnoxious 
measures were hatched from that egg, and aroused the fiercest indignation of 
the colonists. 

The American people, conscious of rectitude, were neither slow nor cautious 



^ Note 2, page 213. 

- Edinuud Burke was bom in Ireland, in 1730. He became a lawyer, and was a very popular 
writer, as well as a speaker. He was in public office about thirty years, and died in 1797. 

' William Pitt was born in England in 1708, and held many high offices of trust and emolu- 
ment. During an exciting debate in Parliament, on American aflJairs, in the spring of 1778, ho 
swooned, and died within a month afterward. 

* " Taxation," said Pitt, ''is no part of the governing or legislative power. Taxes are the vol- 
untary gift or grant of the commons alone." "I rejoice." he said, "that America has resisted. 
Three millions of people, so dead to all the feelings of liberty, as voluntarily to become slaves, would 
have been fit instruments to make slaves of the rest." And Colonel Barrc declared that the colon- 
ists were planted by P^nglish oppression, grew by neglect, and in all the essential elements of a free 
people, were perfectly independent of Great ISritain. ' He then warned the government to act justly, 
or the colonies would bo lost to Great Britain Ibrever. 



218 THE EEYOLUTION. [1161. 

in exhibiting their indignation, and this boldness irritated their oppressors. A 
large portion of the House of Lords,' the whole bench of bishops," and many of 
the Commons, were favorable to coercive measures toward the Americans. Not 
doubting the power of Parliament to tax them, thej prevailed on the ministry 
to adopt new schemes for replenishing the exhausted treasury' from the cofierg 
of the colonists, and urged the justice of employing arms, if necessary, to en- 
force obedience. Troops were accordingly sent to America, in June, 1766 ; 
and a Mutiny Act was passed, Avhich provided for their partial subsistence by 
the colonies." The appearance of these troops in New York, and the order for 
the people to feed and shelter the avowed instruments of their own enslavement, 
produced violent outbreaks in that city, and burning indignation all over the 
land. The Assembly of New York at once arrayed itself against the govern- 
ment, and refused compliance with the demands of the obnoxious act. 

In the midst of the darkness, light seemed to dawn upon the Americans. 
Early in the month of July, Pitt was called to the head of the British ministry, 
and on the 30th of that month, he was created Earl of Chatham. He opposed 
the new measures as unwise and unjust, and the colonists hoped for reconcilia- 
tion and repose. But Pitt could not always prevent mischief During his 
absence from Parliament, on account of sickness, the Chancellor of the Ex- 
chequer (Charles Townshend) coalesced with Grenville in bringing new tax- 
ation schemes before that body.^ A bill w^as passed in June, 1767, for levying 
duties upon tea, glass, paper, painters' colors, etc., wdiich should be imported 
into the colonies. Another was passed, in July, for establishing a Board of 
Trade in the colonies, independent of colonial legislation, and for creating resi- 
dent commissioners of customs to enforce the revenue laws.' Then another, a 
few days later, which forbade the New York Assembly to perform any legisla- 
tive act whatever, until it should comply with the requisitions of the Mutiny 
Act. These taxation schemes, and blows at popular liberty, produced excite- 
ment throughout the colonies, almost as violent as those on account of the 
Stamp Act.' The colonial Assemblies boldly protested ; new non-importation 
associations were formed ; pamphlets and newspapers w^ere filled with inflam- 
matory appeals to the people, defining their rights, and urging them to a united 
resistance f and early in 1768, almost every colonial Assembly had boldly ex- 

^ Every peer in the British realm is a legislator by virtue of his title ; and when they are assem- 
bled for legislative duties, they constitute the House of Lords, or upper branch of the legislature, 
answering, in some degree, to our Senate. 

' Two archbishops, and twenty-four bishops of England and Wales, have a right to sit and vote 
in the House of Lords, and have tlie same political importance as the peers. By the act of union 
between Ireland and England, four "lords spiritual'' from among the archbishops and bishops of the 
former country, have a seat in the House of Lords. The " lords temporal and lords spiritual" con- 
stitute the House of Lords. The Bouse of Commons is composed of men elected by the people, and 
answers to the House of Representatives of our Federal Congress. ^ Page 212. 

* This act also allowed raihtary officers, possessing a warrant from a justice of the peace, to 
break into any house where he might suspect deserters were concealed. Like the Writs of Assist- 
ance [page 212], this power might be used for wicked purposes. 

* In January 1767 GrenviUe proposed a direct taxation of the colonies to the amount of twenty 
thousand dollars. 

" Note 6, page 212, and note 5, page 134. ' Page 215. 

* Among the most powerfid of these appeals, were a series of letters, written by John Dicken- 
son, of Philadelphia^ aud entitled Letters of a Pennsylvania farmer. Like Paine's Crisis, ten yeara 



1775.] 



PRELIMINARY EVENTS. 



219 



pressed its conviction, that Parliament had no right to tax the colonics. These 
expressions were in response to a circular issued by Massachusetts [Feb., 1768J 
to the several Assemblies, asking their co-operation in obtaining a redress of 
grievances. That circular greatly offended the Ministry ; and the governor of 




Massachusetts was instructed to command the Assembly, in the king's name, to 
rescind the resolution adopting it. The Assembly, on the 30th of June follow- 
ing, passed an almost unanimous vote not to rescind,' and made this very order 
an evidence of the intentions of government to enslave the colonists, by restrain- 
ing the free speech and action of their representatives. 

The British Ministry, ignorant and careless concerning the character and 
temper of the Americans, disregarded the portentous warnings which every 
vessel from the New World bore to their ears. Having resolved on employing 
physical force in the maintenance of obedience, and not doubting its potency, 



later [note 4, page 250], these Letters produced a wide-spread and powerful effect on the public 
mind. James Otis asserted, in a pamphlet, that "taxes on trade [tariffs], if designed to rause a 
revenue, were as much a violation of their rights as any other tax." John Dickenson was bom in 
Maryland, in November, 1732. He studied law in England for tliree years, and made his first ap- 
pearance in public life, as a member of the Pennsylvania Assembly. He was a member of the 
Stamp Act Congress [page 215], and of the Continental Congress [page 226]. He was an eloquent 
speaker, and elegant writer. He was opposed to the indi'pfMidonce of the colonies, but acquiesced, 
and was an able member of the convention that franKni the Federal Constitution. He remained long 
in public life, and died in 1808, at the age of seventy-five years. 

' .Tames Otis and Samuel Adams were the principal speakers on this occasion. ""When Lord 
Hillsborouu:li [colonial secretary] knows," said the former, "that we will not rescind o?<r acts, ho 
should appeal to Parliament to rescind theirs. Let Britons rescind their measures, or the colonies 
are lost to them forever." 



220 THE REVOLUTION, [^Gl. 

they became less regardless of even the forms of justice, and began to treat the 
colonists as rebellious subjects, rather than as free British brethren. Ministers 
sent orders to the colonial Assemblies, warning them not to imitate the factious 
disobedience of Massachusetts ; and the royal governors were ordered to enforce 
submission by all means in their power. The effect of these circulars was to 
disgust and irritate the Assemblies, and to stimulate their sympathy for Massa- 
chusetts, now made the special object of displeasure. 

It was in the midst of the general excitement, in May, 1768, that the new 
commissioners of customs arrived at Boston. They were regarded with as 
much contempt as were the tax-gatherers in Judea, in the time of our Saviour.' 
It was difficult to restrain the more ignorant and excitable portion of the pop- 
ulation from committing personal violence. A crisis soon arrived. In June, 
1768, the sloop Liberty^ belonging to John Hancock, one of the leaders of the 
popular mind in Boston,^ arrived at that port with a cai-go of ^Madeira wine. 
The commissioners demanded the payment of duties, and when it was refused, 
they seized the vessel. The news spread over the town, and the people re- 
solved on immediate and effectual resistance. An assemblage of citizens soon 
became a mob, who dragged a custom-house boat through the town, burned it 
upon the Common, assailed the commissioners, damaged their houses, and com- 
pelled them to seek safety in Castle William, a small fortress at the entrance 
to the harbor. ° Alarmed by these demonstrations of the popular feeling, Gov- 
ernor Bernard unwisely invited General Gage,^ then in command of British 
troops at Halitax, to bring soldiers to Boston to overawe the inhabitants.^ They 
came in September [Sept. 27, 1768], seven hundred in number, and on a quiet 
Sabbath morning, landed under cover of the cannons of the British ships which 
brought them, and Avith drums beating, and colors flying, they marched to the 
Common," with all the parade of a victorious army entering a conquered city. 
Religion, popular freedom, patriotism, Avere all outraged, and the cup of the 
people's indignation was full.'' The colonists were taught the bitter, but neces- 
sary lesson, that armed rc;::3tance must oppose armed oppression.'' 

Like the Assembly of New York, that of ]\Iassachusetts refused to afford 



* The publicans, or toll-gatherers of Judea, being a standing monument of the degradation of the 
Jews under the Roman }■ oke, were ahhorred. One of the accusations against our Saviour was, that 
he did "eat with 2}uhlicans and sinners." ^ Page 231. 

^ About three miles south-east from Boston. The fortress was ceded to the United States in 
1T98; and the following ,year it was visited by President Adams, and named Fori Independence, its 
present title. In connection with Castle WiUiam, we find the first mention of the tune of " Yankee 
Doodle." In the Boston Journal of the Times, September 29, 1768, is the following: "The fleet 
was brought to anchor near Castle William ; that night there was throwing of skv-rockets ; and 
tliose passing in boats observed great rejoicings, and that the Yankee Doodle Song was the capital 
piece in the band of music." ^ Page 186. 

^ The British ministry had already resolved to send troops to Boston to subdue the rebellious 
propensities of the people. 

® A large public park on the southern slope of Beacon Hill. 

' As the people refused to supply the troops with quarters, they were placed, some in the State 
House, some in Fancuil Hall [page 225]. and others in tents on the Common. Cannons were 
planted at different points; sentinels challenged the citizens as they passed; and the whole town 
had the appearance of a camp. 

" There were, at that time, full two huudred thousand men in the colonies capable of bearing 
arms. 



1775.] PRELIMINARY EVENTS. 221 

food and shelter for the royal troops in that province, and for tins offense, Par- 
liament, now become the supple instrument of the crown, censured their dis- 
obedience, approved of coercive measures, and, by resolution, prayed the kin"- 
to revive a long obsolete statute of Henry the Eighth, by which the governor 
of the refractory colony should be required to arrest, and send to England for 
trial, on a charge of treason, the ringleaders in the recent tumults. The colo- 
nial Assembly indignantly responded, by re-asscrting the chartered privileges 
of the people, and denying the right of the king to take an offender from the 
country, for trial. And in the House of Commons a powerful minority battled 
manfully for the Americans. Burke pronounced the idea of reviving that old 
statute, as "horrible.'' "Can you not trust the juries of that country?" he 
asked. "If you have not a party among two millions of people, you must 
either change your plans of government, or renounce the colonies forever." 
Even Grenville, the author of the Stamp Act, opposed the measure, yet a ma- 
jority voted in favor of the resolution, on the 26th of January, 1769. 

The British troops continued to be a constant source of irritation, while, 
month after month, the colonies were agitated by disputes with the royal gov- 
ernors, the petty tyranny of lesser officials, and the interference of the" imperial 
government with colonial legislation. The Assembly of Massachusetts, encour- 
aged by the expressed sympathy of the other colonies, firmly refused to appro- 
priate a single dollar for the support of the troops. They even demanded their 
withdrawal from the city, and refused to transact any legislative business while 
they remained. Daily occurrences exasperated the people against the troops, 
and finally, on the 2d of J\Iarch, 1770, an event, apparently trifling in its char- 
acter, led to bloodshed in the streets of Boston. A rope-maker quarreled with 
a soldier, and struck him. Out of this affray grew a fight between several sol- 
diers and rope-makers. The latter were beaten, and the result aroused the 
vengeance of the more excitable portion of the inhabitants. A few CA'enings 
afterward [March 5], about seven hundred of them assembled in the streets, 
for the avowed purpose of attacking the troops.' A sentinel was assaulted near 
the custom-house, when Captain Preston, commander of the guard, went to his 
rescue with eight armed men. The mob dared the soldiers to fire, and attacked 
them with stones, pieces of ice, and other missiles. One of the soldiers who 
received a blow, fired, and his six companions also discharged their guns. 
Three of the citizens were killed, and five were danger- 
ously wounded.' The mob instantly retreated, when all 

' These were addressed hy a tall man, disguised by a white wig and 
a scarlet cloak, who closed his harangue by shouting, " To the main 
guard! to the main guard!" and then disappeared. It was always be- 
lieved that the tall man was Samuel Adams, one of the most inflexible 
patriots of the Revolution, and at that time a popular leader. He was 
a descendant of one of the early Puritans [page 75], and was born in 
Boston in 1722. Ho was one of the signers of the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence ; was afterward governor of Massachusetts ; and died in 
1803. A purer patriot than Samuel Adams, never lived. Samuel adams. 

" The leader of the mob was a powerful nuilatto, named Crispus 
Attucks. He and Samuel Gray and James Caldwell, were killed instantly ; two other* received 
mortal wounds. 




222 THE REVOLUTION. [ITGI. 

the bells of the city rang an alarum, and in less than an hour several thou- 
sands of exasperated citizens were in the streets. A terrible scene of blood 
would have ensued, had not Governor Hutchinson assured the people that 
justice should be vindicated in the morning. They retired, but with firm re- 
solves not to endure the military despotism any longer. 

The morning of the 6th of March was clear and frosty. At an early hour 
Governor Hutchinson was called upon to fulfill his promise. The people de- 
manded the instant removal of the troops from Boston, and the trial of Captain 
Preston and his men, for murder. These demands were complied with. The 
troops were removed to Castle William [March 12, 1770], and Preston, ably 
defended by John Adams and Josiah Quincy, two of the popular leaders, was 
tried and acquitted, with six of his men, by a Boston jury. The other two sol- 
diers Avere found guilty of manslaughter. This result was a comment on the 
enforcement of the statute of Henry the Eighth, highly favorable to the Amer- 
icans. It was so regarded in England, and was used with good effect by the 
opposition in Parliament. It showed that in the midst of popular excitement, 
the strong conservative principles of justice bore rule. The victims of the riot 
were regarded as martyrs to liberty,' and for many years, the memory of the 
"Boston Massacre," as it was called, was kept alive by anniversary orations in 
the city and vicinity. 

Perceiving the Avill and the power of the colonists in resisting taxation with- 
out their consent, the British ministry now wavered. On the very day of the 
bloody riot in Boston [March 5], Lord North, who was then the English prime 
minister, proposed to Parliament a repeal of all duties imposed by the act of 
1767, '^ except that upon tea. An act to that effect was passed a month after- 
ward [April 12]. This concession was wrung from the minister partly by the 
clamor of English merchants and manufacturers, who again felt severely the 
operations of the non-importation associations in America. As tea was a lux- 
ury. North supposed the colonists would not object to the small duty laid upon 
that article, and he retained it as a standing assertion of the right of Parliament 
to impose such duties. The minister entirely mistook the character of the peo- 
ple he was dealing with. It was not the petty amount of duties of which they 
complained, for all the taxes yet imposed were not in the least burdensome to 
them. They were contending for a great principle^ which lay at the foundation 
of their li1)erties ; and they regarded the imposition of a duty upon one article 
as much a violation of their sacred rights, as if ten were included. They ac- 
cepted the ministerial concession, but, asserting their rights, continued their 
non-importation league against the purchase and use of tea.^ 

' They were Iniried with great parade. All the bells of Boston and vicinit_v tolled a funeral 
knell while the procession was moving ; and as intended, the aflair made a deep impression on the 
public mind. ^ Page 218. 

=" Even before North's proposition was made to Parliament, special agreements concerning the 
disuse of tea, had been made. Already the popular feeling on this subject had been manifested to- 
ward a Boston merchant who continued to sell tea. A company of half-grown boys placed an (i'S\.^ 
near his door, with a linger upon it pointing toward his store. While a man was attempting to 
pull it down, he wag pelted with dirt and stones. He ran into the store, and seizing a gun, dis- 
charged iCs contents among the crowd. A boy named Snyder was killed, and Christopher Gore 



1775.] PRELIMINARY EYENTS. £23 

The spirit of opposition was not confined to the more northern and eastern 
colonies. It was rife below the Roanoke, and was boldly made manifest when 
occasion required. In 1771, the Carolinas, hitherto exempted from violent out- 
bursts of popular indignation, although never wanting in zeal in opposing the 
Stamp Act, and kindred measures, became the theater of great excitement. To 
satisfy the rapacity and pride of royal governors, the industry of the province 
of North Carolina, especially, was enormously taxed.' The oppression was real, 
not an abstract principle, as at the North. The people in the interior at length 
formed associations, designed to resist unjust taxation, and to control public 
affairs. They called themselves Regulators ; and in 1771, they were too nu- 
merous to be overawed by local magistrates. Their operations assumed the 
character of open rebellion ; and in the spring of that year. Governor Tryon* 
marched into that region with an armed force, to subdue them. They met him 
upon Alamance Creek, in Alamance county, on the 16th of INIay, and there a 
bloody skirmish ensued. The Regulators were subdued and dispersed, and 
Tryon marched back in triumph to the sea-board, after hanging six of the lead- 
ers, on the 19th of June following. These events aroused, throughout the South, 
the fiercest hatred of British power, and stimulated that earnest patriotism so 
early displayed by the people below the Roanoke, when the Revolution broke out.^ 

The upper part of Narragansct Bay exhibited a scene, in the month of 
June, 1772, which produced much excitement, and widened the breach between 
Great Britain and her colonies. The commander of the British armed schooner 
Gasi^!. stationed there to assist the commissioners of customs* in enforcing the 
revenue laws, annoyed the American navigators by haughtily commanding them 
to lower their colors when they passed his vessel, in token of obedience. The 
William Tells of the bay refused to bow to the cap of this petty Gesler.^ For 
such disobedience, a Providence sloop was chased by the schooner. The latter 
grounded upon a low sandy point; and on that night [June 9, 1772], sixty-four 
armed men went down from Providence in boats, captured the people on board 
the Gasp), and burned the vessel. Although a large reward was offered for the 
perpetrators (who were well known in Providence®), they Avere never betrayed. 

(afterward governor of Massachusetts) was wounded. The affair produced great excitement. At 
about the same time, three hundred "mistresses of femOies" in Boston signed a pledge of total ab- 
stinence from the use of tea, while the duty remained upon it. A few days afterward a large num- 
ber of young ladies signed a similar pledge. 

* Governor Tryon caused a palace to be erected for his residence, at Ncwbern, at a cost of 
$75,000, for the payment of which the province was taxed. This was in 1768, and was one of the 
principal causes of discontent, which produced the outbreak here mentioned. 

= Page 248. ^ Page 237. * Page 220.. 

^ Gesler was an Austrian governor of one oftlie cantons of Switzerland. He placed his cap on 
a pole, at a gate of the town, and ordered all to bow to it, when they should enter. William Tell, a 
brave leader of the people, refused. He was imprisoned for disolicdiencc, escaped, aroused his 
countrymen to arms, who drove their Austrian masters out of the land, and achieved the indepen- 
dence of Switzerland. 

° One of the leaders was Abraham "Whipple, a naval commander during the Revolution [page 
310]. Several others were afterward distinguislied for bravery during that struggle. Four years 
afterward, when Sir James Wallace, a British commander, was in the vicinity of Newport, Whipple 
became known as the leader of the attack on" the Ga-spc. Wallace sent him the following letter: 
"You, Abraham Whipple, on the 9th of June, 1772, burned his majesty's vessel, the Gaspc. and I 
will hang you at the yard-arm." To this Whipple replied: " To Sir James "\Vallace. Sir: Always 
catch a man before you hang him. — James WmppLE." 




224 THE REVOLUTION. [1761. 

These rebellious acts, so significant of the temper of the Americans, greatly 
perplexed the British ministry. Lord North' would gladly have conciliated 
them, but he was pledged by words and acts to the maintenance of the asserted 
principle, that Parliament had the undoubted right to tax the colonies without 
their consent. He labored hard to perceive some method by which conciliation 
and parliamentary supremacy might be made to harmonize, and early in 1773, 
a new thought upon taxation entered his brain. The East India Company,^ 
having lost their valuable tea customers in America, by the operation of the 
non-importation associations, and having more than seventeen millions of pounds 
of the article in their warehouses in England, petitioned Parliament to take off 
the duty of three pence a pound, levied upon its importation into America. 
The company agreed to pay the government more than 
an equal amount, in export duty, if the change should be 
made. Here was an excellent opportunity for the gov- 
ernment to act justly and wisely, and to produce a per- 
fect reconciliation; but the stupid ministry, fearing it 
might be considered a submission to " rebellious sub- 
jects," refused the olive branch of peace. Continuing 
to misapprehend the real question at issue. North intro- 
duced a bill into Parliament, allowing the company to 
export their teas to America on their own account, with- 
out paying an export duty. As this would make tea cheaper in America than 
in England, he concluded the Americans would not object to paying the three 
pence duty. This concession to a commercial monopoly, while spurning the 
appeals of a great principle, only created contempt and indignation throughout 
the colonies. 

Blind as the minister, the East India Company now regarded the American 
market as open for their tea, and soon after the passage of the bill [^lay 10, 
1773], several large ships, heavily laden with the article, were on their way 
across the Atlantic. Intelligence of these movements reached America before 
the arrival of any of the ships, and the people in most of the sea-board towns, 
where consignments of tea had been made, resolved that it should not even be 
landed. The ships which arrived at New York and Philadelphia, returned to 
England with their cargoes. At Charleston it was landed, but was not allowed 
to be sold ; while at Boston, the attempts of the governor and his friends,^ who 

' Frederick, Earl of Guilford (Lord North), was a man of talent, sincerely attached to En^lisli 
liberty, and conscientious in the performanance of his duties. Lilve many other statesmen of his 
time, he utterly misapprehended the character of the American people, and could not perceive the 
justice of their claims. He was prime minister during- the whole of our War for Independence. 
He was afflicted with blindness during the last years of his life. He died in July, 1792, at the age 
of sixty years. 

^ The English East India Company was formed and chartered in 1600, for the purjiose of 
carrying on a trade by sea, between England and the countries lying east of the Cape of Good 
Hope [note 1, page 37]. It continued prosperous; and about the middle of the last century, the 
governor of its stations in India, under the pretense of obtaining security for their trade, subdued 
small territories, and thus planted the foundation of that great British empire in the East, which 
now comprises the whole of Hindostan, from Cape Comorin to the Himalaya mountains, with a 
population of more than one hundred and twenty millions of people. 

' The public mind in Massachusetts was greatly inflamed against Governor Hutchinson at this 




1775.] PRELIiriXART EVENTS. 225 

were consignees, to land the tea in defiance of the public feeling, resulted in the 

destruction of a large (juantity of it. On a cold moonlight night [December 

IG, 1773], at the close of the last of several spirited 

meetings of the citizens held at Faneuil Hall,' a party 

of about sixty persons, some disguised as Indians. 

rushed on board two vessels in the harbor, laden Avitli 

tea, tore open the hatches, and in the course of two 

hours, three hundred and forty-two chests containing 

the proscribed article, were broken open, and their 

contents cast into the water. This event produced a 

powerful sensation throughout the British realm, and 

led to very important results. 

While the American colonies, and even Canada, Nova Scotia, and the 
British West Indies, sympathized with the Bostonians, and could not censure 
them, the exasperated government adopted retaliatory measures, notwithstand- 
ing payment for all damage to their property was promised to the East India 
Company. Parliament, by enactment [^larch 7, 1774], ordered the port of 
Boston to be closed against all commercial transactions whatever, and the re- 
moval of the custom-house, courts of justice, and other public offices, to Salem. 
The Salem people patriotically refused the proffered advantage at the expense 
of their neighbors ; and the inhabitants of Marblehead, fifteen miles distiint, 
offered the free use of their harbor and wharves, to the merchants of Boston. 
Soon after the passage of the Boston Port Bill, as it was called, another act, 
which leveled a blow at the charter of Massachusetts, was made a law [March 
28, 1774]. It was equivalent to a total subversion of the charter, inasmuch 
as it deprived the people of many of the dearest privileges guarantied by that, 
instrument." A third retaliatory act was passed on the 21st of April, provid- 
ing for the trial, in England, of all persons charged in the colonics with mur- 
ders committed in support of goATrnment, giving, as Colonel Barro said, 
"encouragement to military insolence already so insupportable." A fourth 
bill, providing for the quartering of troops in America, was also passed by 
large majorities in both Houses of Parliament ; and in anticipation of rebellion 
in America, a fifth act was passed, making great concessions to the Roman 
Catholics in Canada, known. as the Quebec Act. This excited the animosity of 



time, whose letters to a member of Parliament, recommending stringent mevsurcs toward the col- 
onies, had been procured in England, and sent to the speaker of the colonial Assembly, by Dr. 
Franklin. At about the same time. Parliament had passed .a law, making the governor and judges 
of Massachusetts independent of the Assembly for their salaries, these being paid out of the revt^ 
nues in the liands cf the commissioners of customs. This removal of these officials be_vond all de- 
pendence upon the people, constituted them fit instruments of the cro-mi for oppressing the inhabit- 
ants, and in that aspect the colonists viewed the measure, and condomed it. 

' Because the Revolutionary meetings in Boston were held iu Faneuil Hall, it was (and still is) 
called Tlie Cradle of Liberty, it was built, and presented to the town, by Peter Faneuil, in 1 742. 
Tlie picture shows its form during the Revolution. The vane on the steeple, in the form of a grass- 
hopper (symbolical of devouring), yet holds its original place. 

"^ It empowered sheriffs appointed by the crown, to .select juries, instead of leaving that power 
witli the selectmen of the towns, wlio were chosen by tlic people. It also prohibited all town 
meetings and other gatherings. It provided for the appointment of the council, judges, justices of 
the peace, etc., by the crown or its representative. 

15 



226 THE REVOLUTION, [ITGI. 

all rrotestant3. These measures created universal indignation toward the gov- 
ernment, and sympathy for the people of Boston. 

On the first of June, 1774, the Boston Port Bill went into operation. It 
was a heavy hlow fur the doomed town. Business was crushed, and great suf- 
ferintr ensued. The utter prostration of trade soon produced wide-spread dis- 
tress. The rich, deprived of their rents, became straitened ; and the poor, 
denied the privilege of laboring, were reduced to beggary. All classes felt the 
scourge of the oppressor, but bore it with remarkable fortitude. They were 
conscious of being right, and everywhere, tokens of the liveliest sympathy were 
manifested. Flour, rice, cereal grains, fuel, and money, were sent to the suffer- 
ino- people from the different colonies ; and the city of London, in its corporate 
capacity, subscribed one hundred and fifty thousand dollars for the poor of Boston. 
For the purpose of enforcing these oppressive laws. General Gage, the com- 
mander-in-chief of the British army in America,^ was appointed governor of 
Massachusetts, and an additional military force Ava 5 ordered to Boston. These 
coercive demonstrations greatly increased the pul)lic irritation, and diminished 
the hopes of reconciliation. Slavish submission or armed resistance, was now 
the alternative presented to the American people. Committees of correspond- 
ence which had been formed in every colony in 1773," had been busy in the 
interchange of sentiments and opinions, and throughout the entire community 
of Anglo-Americans there was evidently a general consonance of feeling, favor- 
able to united eSbrts in opposing the augmenting tyranny of Great Britain. 

Yet they hesitated, and resolved to deliberate in solemn 

council before they should appeal to "the last argument 

of kings."' 

The patriots of Massachusetts stood not alone in 

their integrity. In all the colonies the Whigs'* were 
SNAKE DEVICE. ^^ inflexible and bold, and as valiantly defied the power 

of royal governors, when unduly exercised. But those of Massachusetts, being 
the special objects of ministerial vengeance, suifered more, and rcijuired more 
boldness to act among bristling bayonets and shotted cannons, prepared ex- 
pressly for their bosoms. Yet they grew stronger every day under persecu- 
tion, and bolder as the frowns of British power became darker.^ Even while 

' Page 220. 

* At a consultation of leading: members of the Virginia House of Assembly, in March, 1773, held 
in the old Raleigh tavern at Williamsburg, at which Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, Richard 
Henry Lee, and others, were present, it was agreed to submit a resolution in the House the follow- 
ino- day, appointing a committee of vigilance and correspondence, and recommending the same to 
the other colonies. The measure was carried, and these committees formed one of the most power- 
fill en^-ines in carrying on the work of the Revolution. Similar committees had already been formed 
in several towns in Massachusetts. 

' These words, in Latin, were o<\cn placed upon cannons. There arc several old French can- 
nons, made of brass, in the State armory at Richmond, Virginia, on two of which these words ap- 
pear. They also appear upon some French cannons at Vest Point. 

^ The terms, Whig and Tory, had long been used in England as titles of political parties. Tho 
former denoted' tho opposers of royalty; the latter indicated its supporters. These terms were 
introduced into America two or three years before the Revolution broke out, and became the dis- 
tinctive titles of the patriots and loyalists. 

' Even the childi-en seemed to lose their timidity, and became bolder. They nobly exhibited it 




1775.] 



PRELIMINARY EVENTS. 



227 



troops, to overawe them were parading the streets of Boston, sturdy representa- 
tives of the people assembled at Salem,' and sent forth an invitation to all the 
colonies to appoint delegates to meet in a general Congress at Philadelphia on 
the 5th of September following. It met with a hearty response from tAvclve of 




'^i^^-^-l^j C^^^^^ 



the thirteen colonies, and the Press and the Pulpit seconded the measures with 
great emphasis. Some newspapers bore a significant device. It was a snake 
cut into thirteen parts, each part bearing the initials of a colony upon it, as 
seen in the enwravinsi;.- Under these were the sio;nificant Avords, Unite or die. 
The delegates were all appointed before the close of August, and the First 



on one occasion. They were in the habit of bnilding mounds of snow in winter, on Boston Com- 
mon. These the sol'liers battered down, so as to anno}' the boys. Tliis being repeated, a meeting 
of larger boys was Iield, and a deputation was sent to General Gage, to remonstrate. " We come, 
sir." s:iid tiio tallest boy, "to demand satisfaction." '-"What!" exclaimed Gage; "have )'our 
fathers been toacliing j-ou rebellion, and sent you here to cxliibit it?" " Nobody sent us here, sir," 
said the boy. while his eyes flashed with indignation. " Wo have never insulted nor injured your 
troops, but th':'y have trodden down our snow-hills, and broken the ice on our .skating-gronnds. 
Wo complained ; and, calling us young rebels, told us to help ourselves if we could. We told tho 
captain of this, and lie laughed at us. Yesterday our works were destroyed for the third time, and 
wo will bear it no longer." (Jage admired tho spirit of tlie boys, promised them redress, and turn- 
ing to an officer, ho said, "Tho very children here draw m "a lovo of liberty with the air they 
breathe " 

' At that meeting of the General Assembly of Massaclnisetts, the patriots matured a plan for a 
general Congress, provided for munitions of war to resist British power in their own province, and 
formed a general non-importation league for the whole country. In the midst of their proceedings, 
General Gage sent his secretary to dissolve them, but the doors of the Assembly chamber were 
locked, and the key was in Samuel Adams's pocket. Having finished their busines.s, the Assembly 
adjourned, and thus ended tho last session of that body, under a royal governor. ' Pago 226. 




228 THE REVOLUTION. [1761. 

Continental Congress' assembled in Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia, on the 
5th of September, 1774, the daj named in the circular. All but Georgia were 
represented. Peyton Randolph, of Virginia, was appointed President, and 
Charles Thomson of Pennsylvania, Secretary.'' The regular business of the 
Congress commenced on the morning of the 7th, ^ after an impressive prayer for 
Divine guidance, uttered by the Rev. Jacob DucheV of Philadelphia. They 
remained in session until the 26th of October, during which time they matured 
measures for future action, wdiich met with the general approbation of the 
American people. ^ They prepared and put forth sev- 
eral State papers, ' marked by such signal ability and 
wisdom, as to draw from the Earl of Chatham these 
words in the House of Lords : "I must declare and 
avow, that in all my reading and study of history — 
(and it has been my favorite study — I have read Thu- 
cydides, and have studied and admired the master 
States of the world) — that for solidity of reasoning, 
force of sagacity, and wisdom of conclusion, under 
CARPENTERS HALL. gucli a complicatiou of circumstances, no nation or 

body of men can stand in preference to the general Congress at Philadelphia.'' 
In all its proceedings Congress manifested decorum, firmness,^ moderation, 

* This name was given to distinguisli it from the two colonial Congresses [pages 183 and 215] 
already lield ; one at Albany in 1754, the other at New York in 1765. 

^ Thomson was secretary of Congress, perpetually, from 1774, until the adoption of the Federal 
Constitution, and the organization of the new government, in 1789. Watson relates that Thomson 
had just come into Pliiladelphia, with his bride, and was alighting from his chaise, when a messen- 
ger from ihe delegates in Carpenter's Ilall came to him, and said they wanted him to come and 
talce minutes of tiieir proceedings, as he was an expert at such business. For liis first year's serv- 
ice, he received no pay. So Congress inibrmed his wife that they Avished to compensate her for the 
absence of her husband during that time, and wished her to name what kind of a piece of plate sho 
would like to receive. Sho ciiose an urn, and that silver vessel is yet in the famOy. Thomson was 
born in Ireland in 1730, came to America when eleven years of age, and died in 1824, at the age 
of ninety-four years. 

^ When the delegates had assembled on the 5th, no one seemed inclined to break the silence, 
and deep anxiety was depicted in every countenance. Soon a grave-looking man, in a suit of 
"minister's gray," and unpowdered wig, arose, and, with a sweet, musical voice, he uttered a few 
eloquent words, that electrified the whole audience. " Who is he ?" was a question that went 
from lip to lip. A few who knew him, answered, " It is Patrick Henry, of Yirginia." There was 
no longer any hesitation. He who, nine years before, had cast the gauntlet of defiance at the feet 
of British power, now set in motion that august machinery of civil power, which assisted in work- 
ing out the independence of the United States. 

^ Duche was a minister of the Clmrch of England, and afterward became a Tory. 

* They prepared a plan for a general commercial non-intercourse with Great Britain and her 
West India possessions, which was called Tfte American Association, and was recommended for 
adoption throughout the country. It consisted of fourteen articles. In addition to the non-inter- 
course provisions, it was recommended to abandon the slave-trade, to improve the breed of sheep, 
to abstain from all extravagance in li\ing and indulgence in horse-racing, etc., and the appointment 
of a committee in every town to promote conformity to the requirements of the Association. It 
was signed by the fifty-two members present. 

° A Bill of Rights; an address to the people of Great Britain, written by John Jay; another to 
the several Anglo- American colonies, Avritton by William Livingston ; another to the inhabitants of 
Quebec, and a petition to the king. In these, the grievances and the rights of tlic colonies were ably 
sot forth. 

' He also said, in a letter to Stephen Sayre, on the 24th of December, 1774: "I have not 
words to express my satisfiction that the Congress has conducted this most arduous and delicate 
business, with such rnanly wisdom and calm resolution, as do the highest honor to their delilieration." 

* On the 8th of October, they unanimously resolved, " That this Congress approve the opposition 



1775.] FIRST YEAR OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 229 

and lojaltj ; and when the delegates resolved to adjourn, to meet again at the 
same place on the 10th of Maj following [1775J, unless the desired redress of 
grievances should be obtained, they did so with an earnest hope that a reconcil- 
iation might speedily take place, and render another national council unneces- 
sary. But they were doomed to bitter disappointment. Great Britain Avas 
blind and stubborn still. 



CHAPTER II. 

FIRST YEAR OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. [1775.] 

Persuaded that war was inevitable, the colonists began to prepare for that 
event, during the summer and autumn of 1774. They practiced daily in mil- 
itary exercises ; the manufacture of arms and gunpowder was encouraged ; and 
throughout Massachusetts in particular, where the heel of the oppressor bore 
heaviest, the people were enrolled in companies. Fathers and sons, encouraged 
by the gentler sex, received lessons together in the art of war, and prepared to 
take arms at a moment's warning. From this circumstance, they were called 
minute-men. The Whig' journals grew bolder every hour. Epigrams, para- 
bles, sonnets, dialogues, and every form of literary expression, remarkable for 
point and terseness, filled their columns. We give a single specimen of some 
of the rhymes of the day : 

"the quarrel with AMERICA FAIRLY STATED. 

" Rudely forced to drink tea, Massachusetts in anprer 
Spills the tea ou John Bull ; John falls on to bang her ; 
Massachusetts, enraged, calls her neighbors to aid, 
And givg Master John a severe bastinade. 
Now, good men of the law ! pra}-, who is in fault, 
The one who began or resents the assault ?'' 

The IMassachusetts leaders, in the mean while, were laboring, with intense 
zeal, to place the province in a condition to rise in open and united rebellion, 
when necessity should demand. And all over the land, the ])rovincial assem- 
blies, speakers at public gatherings, and from the pulpit, were boldly proclaim- 
ing the right of resistance. These demonstrations alarmed General Gage," and 
he commenced fortifying Boston Neck.^ He also seized and conveyed to 

of the inhabitants of Massachusetts Bay, to the execution of the late acts of Parliament, and if the 
same shall be attempted to be carried into execution by force, in such case all .Vmeriea ought to 
support them in their opposition." This resolution, in letter and spirit, was the embodiment of the 
revolutionary sentiment. ' Note 4, page 22G. 

" Thomas Gage was a native of England. He was governor of Montreal [page 203] in 1760, and 
commander-in-chief of the British army in America, in 1763. He was appointed governor of 
Massachusetts, in 1774; left America in 1775; and diedin 1787. 

^ The peninsula of Boston was originally connected with the main land by a narrow isthmus 
called the Neck. It has been greatly widened by tilling in the marginal morasses; and over it nov/ 
passes the line avenue which connects the city with Roxbury, on the main. 



230 THE REVOLUTION. [1175. 

the city large quantities of ammunition found in the neighboring villages, and 
employed stringent measures for preventing intercourse between the patriots in 
the city and in the country. The exasperated people needed but the electric 
spark of even a slight offense to kindle their suppressed indignation into a 
blaze. They were ready to sound the battle-cry, and evoke the sword of rebel- 
lion from its scabbard ; and they were even anxious to attack the soldiers in 
Boston, but they were restrained by prudent consclors.' 

A rumor went abroad on the third of September, that British ships were 
cannonading Boston. From the shores of Long Island Sound to the green 
hills of Berkshire, " To arms ! to arms !" was the universal shout. Instantly, 
on every side, men of all ages were seen cleansing and burnishing their weap- 
ons • and within two days, full thirty thousand mhmte-mcn were under arms, 
and hastening toward that city. They were met by a contradiction of the 
rumor; but the event conveyed such a portentous lesson to Gage, that he 
pushed forward his military operations with as much vigor as the opposition of 
the people would allow." He thought it expedient to be more conciliatory ; 
and he summoned the colonial Assembly to meet at Salem on the 5th of Octo- 
ber. Then dreading their presence, he revoked the order. Ninety delegates 
met, however, and organized by the appointment of John Hancock^ president. 
They then went to Cambridge, where they formed a Provincial Congress, inde- 
pendent of royal authority (the first in America), and labored earnestly in 
preparations for that armed resistance, now become a stern necessity. They 
made provisions for an army of twelve thousand men ; solicited other New En- 
gland colonies to augment it to twenty thousand; and appointed Jedediah 
Preble and Artemas Ward* men of experience in the French and Indian war,* 
generals of all the troops that might be raised. 

The Americans were now fairly aroused to action. They had counted the 
cost of armed rebellion, and were fully resolved to meet it. The defiant 
position of the colonists arrested the attention of all Europe. When the Brit- 
ish Parliament assembled early in 1775, that body presented a scene of great 
excitement. Dr. Franklin and others,'' then in England, had given a wide cir- 
culation to the State papers put forth by the Continental Congress ;'' and the 



' Many hundreds of armed men assemliled at Cambridge. At Charlestown, the people took 
possession of the arsenal, after Gage had carried off the powder. At Portsmouth, N. H., they cap- 
tured the fort, and carried oft' the ammunition. At Newport, E. I., the people seized the powder, 
and took possession of fortj' pieces of cannon at the entrance of the harbor. In New York, Phila- 
delphia, Annapolis, WDliamsburg, Charleston, and Savannah, the people took active defensive 
measures, and the whole country was in a blaze of indignation. 

''' Carpenters refused to work on the fortifications, and nnich of the material was destroyed by 
fire, at night, in spite of the vigilance of the guards. Gage sent to Now York for timber and work- 
men ; but the people there would not permit either to leave their port. 

^ John Hancock was one of the moFt popular of the New England patriots, throughout tlio 
whole war. He was born in Braintree, Massachusetts, in 17,'!7, was educated at Harvard College; 
became a counting-room clerk to his uncle, and inherited that gentleman's great wealth. He 
entered puVjlic life early ; was a representative in the Continental Congress, and was its president 
when the Declaration of Independence was adopted. He was afterward governor of Massachusetts. 
Mr. Hancock died in October, 1793, at the age of fiftj'-six year.s. 

* Note 5, page 238. ^ Page 179. 

* Dr. Frankiin had then been agent in England, for several of the colonies, for about ten years 
' Note 6, page 228. 



1775.] 



FIRST YEAR OF TOE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE, 



231 



English mind was already favorably influenced in favor of the AmericanH. 
Pitt came on crutches' from his retirement, to cast the weight of his mighty 
influence into the scale of justice, by action in the House of Lords. He pro- 
posed [January 7, 1775] conciliatory measures. They were rejected, as well 




*as others ofiered by Burke, Conway, and Hartly ; and in their stead, Parlia- 
ment, in jSIarch, struck another severe blow at the industry of New England, 
by prohibiting fishing on the banks of Newfoundland.' Already Lord North 
had moved, in the House of Commons [February, 1775], for an address to the 
king, affirming that Massachusetts was in a state of rebellion. The Mmisters 
also endeavored to promote dissensions in America, by crippling the trade of 
New England and other colonies, but exempting New York, Delaware, and 
North Carolina. The bait of favor for these three colonies was indignantly 



' Pitt was neatly afflicted with the gout. Sometimes ho was confined to his house for weeks 
1)7 it; and he was sometimes seen on the floor of Pariiamcnt leaning upon crutches, and his legs 
swathed in flannels. In this condition he made two of his most eloquent speeches m lavor ot ui» 
Americans. 

' At that time, there wore employed hv the Americans, in the British Newfoundland fisheries, 
four hundred ships, two thousand fishing shallops, and twenty thousand men. On account oi tnis 
blow to the fishing trade, a great many inhabitants of Nantucket and vicinity^chietly Quakers, went 
to North Carolina, and in Orange and Ouiieird counties, became planters, 
yet numerous there. The principal meeting-house is at New Garden. 



Their descendants ara- 



232 THE REYOLUTIOX. [1775. 

spurned — the scheme of disunion signally failed. Common dangers and com- 
mon interests drew the ligaments of fraternity closer than ever. When the 
trees budded, and the flowers bloomed in the spring of 1775, all hope of recon- 
ciliation had vanished. It Avas evident that 

■' Killer, Commons, and Lords, were uniting amain," 

to destroy the Liberty Tree, planted by faithful hands. The people of the col- 
onies, though weak in military resources, Avere strong in purpose ; and, relying 
upon the justice of their cause, and the assistance of the Lord God Omnipotent, 
they resolved to defy the fleets and armies of Great Britain. 

There was great moral sublimity in the rising of the colonies against the 
parent country ; for it was material weakness arrayed against great material 
strength. There Avere more than three thousand British troops in Boston, on the 
first of April, 1775. Confident in his poAver, Gage felt certain that he could 
repress insurrections, and keep the people quiet. Yet he felt uneasy concerning 
the gathering of ammunition and stores,* by the patriots, at Concord, sixteen miles 
from Boston. Toward midnight, on the 18th [April], he secretly dispatched 
eight hundred men, under lieutenant-colonel Smith and Major Pitcairn, to 
destroy them. So carefully had he arranged the expedition, that he believed 
it to be entirely unknoAvn to the patriots. All his precautions Avere vain. The 
vigilant Dr. Warren," Avho Av\as secretly watching all the movements of Gage, 
became aware of the expedition early in the evenmg ; and Avhen it moved, 
Paul Revere,^ one of the most active of the Sons of Liberty in Boston, had 
landed at Charlestown, and Avas on his way to Concord to arouse the inhaliitants 
and minute-men. Soon afterAvard, church-bells, muskets, and cannons spread 
the alarm over the country ; and Avhcn, at dawn, on the 19th of April. 1775 — 
a day memorable in the annals of our Repul)lic — Pitcairn, Avitli the adA^anced 
guard, reached Lexington, a fcAV miles from C\jncord, he found seventy deter- 
mined men drawn up to oppose him. Pitcairn rode forward and shouted, 
"Disperse! disperse, you rebels! Down Avith your arms, and disperse!" 
They refused obedience, and he ordered his men to fire. That dreadful order 
was obeyed, and the first blood of the Revolution flowed upon the tender 
grass on the Green at Lexington. Eight citizens Avere killed, several were 
Avounded, and the remainder Avere dispersed. The last survivor of that noble 
band"* died in March, 1854, at the age of almost ninety-six years. 



' Early in the year, secret orders had been sent tay the ministry to the royal governors, to 
remove all ammunition and stores out of the reach of the people, if tliey made any hostile demon- 
strations. 

^ Afterward killed in the battle on Breed's Hill. See page 235. 

' Revere was an engraver, and previous to this time had executed some creditable specimens 
of his art. He engraved a picture of the naval investment of Boston, in 1768, and of the Boston 
Massacre, in 1770. As a Grand Master of the Masonic order, lie was very influential; yet, lilie 
those of Isaac Sears, of New York, his eminent services in the cause of freedom have been over- 
looked. Their fame is eclipsed by men of greater minds, but of no sturdier patriotism. 

* Jonathan Harrington, who played the fife for the minuie-m.en, on the morning of the battle. 
The writer visited him in 1848, when he was ninety years of age. He then had a perfect recollec- 
tion of the events of that morning. A portrait of him, as he appeared at that tune, is published iu 
Lossing's Pictorial Field Booh of the Revolution, page 554, vol. i. 



1775.] FIRST YEAR OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 233 

Confident of full success, the British now pressed forward to Concord, and 
destroyed the stores. They were terribly annoyed by the minute-men on their 
way, who fired upon them from behind walls, trees, and buildings. Having accom- 
plished their purpose, and killed several more patriots in a skirmish there, the 
royal troops hastily retreated to Lexington. The country was now thoroughly 
aroused, and minute-men were gathering by scores. Nothing but the timely 
arrival of Lord Percy with reinforcements,' saved the eight hundred men from 
total destruction. The whole body now retreated. All the way back to 
Bunker's Hill,' in Charlcstown, the troops were terribly assailed by the patri- 
ots ; and when, the following morning, they crossed over to Boston, they ascer- 
tained their loss to be, in killed and wounded, two hundred and seventy-three. 
The loss of the Americans in killed, wounded, and missing, was one hundred 
and three. ^ 

The initial blow for freedom had now been struck. It was appalling to 
friend and foe. The news of this tragedy spread over the country like a blaze 
of lightning from a midnight cloud, and li'.;e the attendant thunder-peal, it 
aroused all hearts. From the hills and valleys of New England, the patriots 
went forth by hundreds, armed and unarmed; and before the close of the 
month [April 1775], an army of twenty thousand men were forming camps and 
piling fortifications around Boston, from Roxbury to the river JMystic, deter- 
mined to confine the fierce tiger of war, Avliich had tasted their blood, upon that 
little peninsula. The provincial Congress,^ sitting at WatertOAvn, with Dr. 
Warren at its head, worked day and night in consonance with the gathering 
army. They appointed military officers, organized a commissariat for supplies, 
issued bills of credit for the payment of troops (for which the province was 
pledged), to the amount of three hundred and seventy-five dollars, and declared 
[May 5] General Gage to be an "inveterate enemy" of the people. And as 
the intelligence went from colony to colony, the people in each were equally 
aroused. Arms and ammunition were seized by the Sons of Liberty, provin- 
cial Congresses were formed, and before the close of summer, the power of 
every royal governor, from INIassachusetts to Georgia, was utterly destroyed. 
Everywhere the inhabitants armed in defense of their liberties, and took vigor- 
ous measures for future security. 

Some aggressive enterprises were undertaken by volunteers. The most 
important of these was the seizure of the strong fortresses of Ticonderoga^ and 
Crown Point," on Lake Champlain, chiefly by Connecticut and Averment 

' Earl Percy was a son of the Duke of Northumberland. When he was marching out of Bos- 
ton, his band struck up the tune of Yankee Doodle, in derision. He saw a boy at Roxbury making 
himself very merry as he pas-scd. Percj'' inquired why he was so merry. "To think," said the lad, 
" how j'ou will dance by-and-V^y to Chevy Chase.'" Percy was often umch inlluenced by presenti- 
ments, and the words of the boy made him moody. Percy was a lineal descendant of the Earl 
Percy who was slain in the battle of Chevy Chase, and he ielt all day as if some great calamity 
might befall him. ^ Pago 235. 

' Appropriate monuments have been erected to the memory of the slain, at Lexington, Concord, 
and Acton. Davis, the commander of the militia at Concord, was from Acton, and so were most 
of his men. The estimated value of the property destroyed Vw the invaders, was as follows: In 
Concord, one thousand three hundred and seventy-five dollars; in Lexington, eight thousand three 
hundrtMl and five dollars; in Cambridge, six thousand and tea dollars. * Pasje 2.S0. 

* Page 196. • Page 200. 



234 THE REVOLUTION. [1775. 

militia, under the command of Colonels Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold. 
Ticonderoga and its garrison were taken possession of at dawn, on the 10th of 
May, 1775 ;' and two days afterward, Colonel Seth Warner, of the expedition, 
with a few men, captured Crown Point. The spoils of victory taken at these 
two posts, consisting of almost one hundred and fifty pieces of cannon, and a 
large quantity of ammunition and stores, were of vast consequence to the Amer- 
icans. A few months later [March, 1776], some of these cannons were hurling 
death-shots into the midst of the British troops in Boston." 

Having repudiated royal authority, the people of Massachusetts were ohe- 
dient to their chosen rulers, and efficient civil government was duly inaugur- 
ated. On the 10th of ]\Iay [1775], the provincial Congress of Massachusetts 
clothed the Committee of Safety, sitting at Cambridge, with full powers to 
regulate the operations of the army. Artemas Ward was appointed commander- 
in-chief, Richard Gridley,^ chief engineer, and Israel Putnam, John Stark, and 
other veterans, Avho had served bravely in the French and Indian war, Avere 
appointed to important commands. The military genius developed in that old 
conflict, was now brought into requisition. Day by day the position of the 
British army became more perilous. Fortunately for its safety, large reinforce- 
ments, under those three experienced commanders. Generals Howe, Clinton, 
and Burgoyne, arrived on the 25th of May. It was timely : and then the 
whole British force in Boston amounted to about twelve thousand men, besides 
several well-manned vessels of Avar, under Admiral Graves. Gage now resolved 
to attack the Americans and penetrate the country. 

Preparatory to an iuA^asion of the province. Gage issued a proclamation 
[.June 10, 1775], declaring all Americans inarms to be rebels and traitors, and 
offering a free pardon to all Avho should return to their allegiance, except those 
arch-offenders, John Hancock and Samuel Adams.* These he intended to 
seize and send to England to be hanged. The vigilant patriots, aware of Gage's 
hostile intentions, strengthened their intrenchments on Boston Neck," and on 
the CA'cnino- of the 16th of June, General Ward sent Colonel Prescott" with a 
detachment of one thousand men, to take possession of, and fortify. Bunker's 
Hill, in CharlestoAvn, Avhich commanded an important part of Boston and the 
surrounding water. By mistake they ascended Breed's Hill, within cannon 
shot of the city, and laboring Avith pick and spade all that night, they had cast 
up a strong redoubt' of earth, on the summit of that eminence, liefore the Brit- 

' Allen was in chief command. Having taken possession of the fort and garrison by surprise, 
lie ascended to the door of the commandant's apartment, and awoke Captain De La Place, by heavy 
blows with the hilt of his sword. The astonished commander, followed by his wife, came to the 
door. He knew Allen. " What do you want?" he inquired. " I want you to surrender this fort," 
Allen answered. "By what authority do you demand it?" asked De La Place. "B3' the Great 
Jehovah and the Continental Congress!" said Allen, with the voice of a Stentor. The captain sub- 
mitted, and the fortress became a possession of the patriots. " Page 247. 

' Note 1, page 138. * Note 1. page 221. ' Note 3, page 229. 

^ William Prescott was born at Groton, Massachusetts, in 1726. He was at Louisburg [page 
137] in 1745. After the battle of Bunker's Hill, he served under Gates, until the surrender of 
Burgoyne. wlien he left the army. He died in 1795. 

' A redoultt is a small fortification generally composed of earth, and having very few features 
of a regular fort, except its arrangement for the use of cannons and muskets. They are often tern- 



■] 



FIRST YEAR OP THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 



235 



ish were aware of their presence. Gage and his officers were greatly astonished 
at the apparition of this military work, at the dawn of the ITtli. 

The British generals were not only astonished, but alarmed, and at once 
perceived the necessity for driving the Americans from this commanding 
position, before they should i)lant a heavy battery there, for in that event, 
Boston must be evacuated before sunrise. The drums beat 
to arms, and soon the city was in a great tumult. The im- 
minent danger converted many Tories into professedly 
warm Whigs, for the days of British rule appeared to be 
closing. Every eminence and roof in Boston 
swarmed with people and at about sunrise 
[June 17, 1TT5J, a 
heavy cannonade was 
opened upon the re- 
doubt, from a battery 
on Copp's Hill, in 
Boston,' and from the 
shipping in the har- 
bor, but with very 
little eifect. Hour 
after hour the patriots 
toiled on in the com- 
pletion of their work, 
and at noon-day. their 
task w^as finished, and they laid aside their implements of labor for knapsacks 
and muskets. General Howe, with General Pigot, and three thousand men, 
crossed the Charles River at the same time, to INIorton's Point, at the foot of 
the eastern slope of Breed's Hill, formed his troops into two columns, and 
marched slowly to attack the redoubt. Although the British commenced firing 
cannons soon after they began to ascend the hill, and the great guns of the 
ships, and the battery on Copp's Hill, poured an incessant storm u])on the 
redoubt, the Americans kept perfect silence until they had approached within 
close musket shot. Hardly an American could be seen by the slowly a})proa,ch- 
ing enemy, yet behind those rude mounds of earth, lay fifteen hundred deter- 
mined men,' ready to pour deadly volleys of musket-balls upon the foe, when 
their commanders should order them. 




PLAN OF EVXKEll'S HILL BAIT I L. 



MOM MI \T 



porary structures, cast up in the progress of a siege, or a protracted battle. Tlic diagram .1, on tho 
map. shows the form of the redoubt, a is the entrance. 

» Tliat portion of Copp's Hill, where tlic British battery was constructed, is a burial-ground, m 
wliich lie many of the earlier residents of that city. Among them, the Mather family, distmguished 
in the early history of the Commonwealth. See page i:!;!. 

^ During the forenoon, General Putnam had been busy in forwarding reinforcements for^Pres- 
cott, and when the battle began, about five Inuidr-xl had been added to the detachment. Yet he 
found it difficult to urse many of tho raw recruits forward ; and after the war, h«> felt it necessary to 
aris:- in tho church of which "he was a member, and in the presence of the congregation, acknowl- 
edge the sin of swearing on that occasion. He partially justified himself by sayin?. " It was almost 
enough to make an angel swear, to see the cowards refuse to secure a victory so nearly won. 



236 THE REVOLUTION. [1775. 

It Avas now three o'clock in the afternoon. When the British column was 
within ten rods of the redoubt, Prescott shouted Fire ! and instantly whole 
platoons of the assailants were prostrated bj well-aimed bullets.' The survivors 
fell back in great confusion, but were soon rallied for a second attack. They 
were again repulsed, with heavy loss, and while scattering in all directions, 
General Clinton arrived with a few followers, and joined Howe, as a volunteer. 
The fuc-itivcs were a^ain rallied, and they rushed up to the redoubt in the face 
of a o-alling fire. For ten minutes the battle raged fearfully, and, in the mean 
Avhile, Charlestown, at the foot of the eminence, having been fired by a carcass* 
from Copp's Ilill,^ sent up dense columns of smoke, which completely enveloped 
the belligerents. The firing in the redoubt soon grew weaker, for the ammu- 
nition of the Americans had become exhausted. It ceased altogether, and then 
the British scaled the bank and compelled the Americans to retreat, Avhile they 
fought fiercely with clubl)ed muskets." Overpowered, they fled across Charles- 
town Neck," gallantly covered by Putnam and a few brave men, and under that 
commander, they took position on Prospect Hill, and fortified it. The British 
took possession of Bunker's Hill," and erected a fortification there. There was 
absolutely no victory in the case. Completely exhausted, both parties sought 
rest, and hostilities ceased for a time. The Americans had lost, in killed, 
wounded, and prisoners, about four hundred and fifty men. The loss of the 
British from like causes, was almost eleven hundred.' This was the first real 
battle^ of the Revolution, and lasted almost two hours. 

Terrible for the people of Boston and vicinity, were the events of that bright 
and cloudless, and truly beautiful June day. All the morning, as Ave have 
observed, and during the fierce conflict, roofs, steeples, and every high place, in 
and around tho city, were filled with anxious spectators. Almost every family 
had a representative among the combatants ; and in an agony of suspense, 
mothers, wives, sisters, and daughters, gazed upon the scene. Many a loved 



' Prescott ordered liis men to aim at the waistbands of the British, and to pick off their officers, 
whose fine clothes would distinguish them. It is said that men, at the first onset in battle, always 
fire too hi^'h, hence the order to aim at the waistbands. 

"^ A carcass is a hollow case, formed of ribs of iron covered with cloth or metal, with holes in it. 
Being filled with combustibles and set on fire, it is thrown from a mortar, like a bomb-shell, upon 
the roofs of buildings, and ignites them. A bomb-shell is a hollow ball with an orifice, filled with 
powder (sometimes mixed with slugs of iron), which is ignited by a slow match when fired, explodes, 
and its fragments produce terrible destruction. ' See map on page 235. 

* Most of the American muskets were destitute of bayonets, and they used the large end as 
clubs. This is a last resort. 

^ Charlestown, like Boston, is on a peninsula, almost surrounded l)v water and a marsh. The 
Neck was a narrow causeway, connecting it with the main. Charlestown was a flourishing rival of 
Boston, at the time of the battle. It was then completely destroyed. Six hundred buildings per- 
ished in the flames. Burgoync, speaking of the battle and conflagration, said, it was the most awful 
and sublime sight he had ever witnessed. 

* As the battle took place on Breetrs, and not on Bunker^s Hill, the former name should 
have been given to it ; but the name of Bunker's Hill has become too sacred in the records of patriot- 
ism to be changed. 

' The provincial Con.sress estimated the loss at about fifteen hundred ; General Gage reported 
one thousand and fifty-four. Of the Americans, only one hundred and fifteen were killed ; the 
remainder were woimded or made prisoners. 

^ A battle is a conflict carried on by large bodies of troops, according to the rules of military 
tactics; a skirmish is a sudden and ii-regular fight between a few troops. 




1775.] FIRST YEAR OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. £37 

one perished ; and there the country lost one of its most promising cliihlren, 
and freedom a devoted champion. Dr. Warren, who 
had just been appointed major-general, had crossed 
Charlestown Neck in the midst of flying balls from the 
British shipping, and reached the redoubt on Breed's 
Hill, at the moment when the enemy scaled its banks. 
He was killed by a nuisket ball, while retreating. 
Buried where he fell, near the redoubt, the tall Bunker 
Hill monument of to-day, standing on that spot, com- 
memorates his death, as well as the patriotism of his 
countrymen. ^ j^^^j^i^^ wakrex. 

The storm wus not confined to the east. "While 
these events wore occurring in New England, the Revolution was making rapid 
progress elsewhere. Even before the tragedy at Lexington and Concord, 
Patrick Henry" had again aroused his countrymen by his eloquence, and in the 
Virginia Assembly, convened at Richmond, on the 23d of March, 1775, he 
concluded a masterly speech with that noted sentiment, which became the war- 
cry of the patriots, " Give me Liberty, or give me Death !"' When, 
twenty-six days later [April 20], Governor Dunmore, by ministerial command,* 
seized and conveyed on board a British vessel of war, a quantity of gunpowder 
belonging to the colony, that same inflexible patriot Avent at the head of armed 
citizens, and demanded and received from the royal representative, full restitu- 
tion. And before the battle of Bunker's Hill, the exasperated people had 
driven Dunmore'' from his palace at Williamsburg [June], and he was a refugee, 
shorn of political power, on board a British man-of-war in the York River. 

Further south, still bolder steps had been taken. The people in the inte- 
rior of North Carolina, where the Regulator ]\Iovement occurred four years 
earlier, asserted their dignity and their rights as freemen, iu a way that aston- 
ished even the most sanguine and determined patriots elsewhere. A convention 
of delegates chosen by the people, assembled at Charlotte, in IMecklenberg 
county, in May, 1775, and by a series of resolutions, they virtually declared 
their constituents absolved from all allegiance to tlie British crown," organized 
local government, and made provisions for military defense. In South Carolina 
and Georgia, also, arms and ammunition had been seized by the people, and 
all royal authority was repudiated. 

While the whole country was excited by the rising rebellion, and on the 



' Joseph "Warren -n-as born in Roxbury, in 1740. He -was at the head of his profession as a 
physician, when the events of tlic approacliing revolution brought liim into public hfe. He was 
tliirtj'-tive years of age wlieu he died. His remains rest in St. I'aul's church, in Boston. 

^ Note 1, page 2 14. * Note 1, page 2.32. 

* Dunmore was strongly suspected of a desire to have the hostile Indians west of the Allegha- 
nics annihilate the Virginia troops sent against them in the summer of 1774 Tliey suflercd ter- 
rible loss in a battle at Point Pleasant on the Ohio, in October of that year, m consequence of the 
failure of promised aid from Dunmore. They subdued the Indians, however. 

^ This -'Declaration of Independence," as it is called, was made about thirteen months previous 
to the general 1 )eclaration put fortli by the Continental Congress, and is one of the glories of the 
people of North Carolina. It con.sisted of a series of twenty resolutions, and was read, from time to 
time, to other gatlioriiigs of the people, after the convention at Charlotte. 



233 THE REVOLUTION. [1775. 

verj day [May 10] Avlien Allen and Arnold took Ticonderoga/ the Second 
Continental Congress convened at Philadelphia. Notwithstanding New 
Eno-land was in a blaze of war, royal authority had virtually ceased in all the 
colonies, and the conflict for independence had actually begun,' that august 
body held out to Great Britain a loyal, open hand of reconciliation. Congress 
sent [July, 1775] a most loyal petition to the king, and conciliatory addresses 
to the people of Great Britain. At the same time they said firmly, " We have 
counted the cost of this contest, and find nothing so dreadful as voluntary 
slavery." They did not foolishly lose present advantages in waiting for a reply, 
but pressed forward in the work of public security. Having resolved on armed 
resistance, they voted to raise an army of twenty thousand men ; and two days 
before the battle of Bunker's Hill [June 15, 1775], they elected George 
Washington commander-in-chief of all the forces raised, or to be raised, for 
the defense of the colonies.^ That destined Father of his Country, was then 
forty-three years of age. They also adopted the incongruous mass of undis- 
ciplined troops at Boston,'' as a Continental Army, and appointed general 
officers" to assist Washington in its organization and future operations. 

General Washington took command of the army at Cambridge, on the od 
of July, and with the efficient aid of General Gates, who was doubtless the best 
disciplined soldier then in the field, order was soon brought out of great con- 
fusion, and the Americans were prepared to commence a regular siege of the 
British army in Boston." To the capture or expulsion of those troops, the 
efforts of Washington were mainly directed during the summer and autumn of 
1775. Fortifications were built, a thorough organization of the army was 
effiicted, and all that industry and skill could do, with such material, in perfect- 
in<T arrangements for a strong and fatal blow, was accomplished. The army, 



' Page 234. ^ Page 232. 

^ Washington was a delegate m Congress from Virginia, and his appointment was wholly unex- 
pected to him. When the time came to choose a commander-in-chief, John Adams arose, and after 
a brief speech, in which he delineated the qualities of the man whom he thought best fitted for the 
important service, lie expressed his intenton to propose a member from Virginia for the office of 
generalissimo. All present understood the allusion, and the next day, Thomas Johnson, of ilary- 
land, nominated Colonel Washington, and he was, by unanimous vote, elected commander-in-chief. 
At the same time Congress resolved that they would " maintain and assist him, and adhere to him, 
with their lives and fortunes, in the cause of American liberty." When President Hancock 
announced to Washington his appointment, he modestly, and with great dignity, signified his accept- 
■ ance in the following terms: " Mr. President — Though I am truly sensible of the high honor done 
mo, in this appointment, yet I feel great distress, from a consciousness that ray abilities and military 
experience may not be equal to the extensive and important trust. However, as the Congress 
desire it, I will enter upon the momentous duty, and exert every power I possess in their service, 
and for the support of the glorious cause. I beg they will accept my most cordial thanks for this 
distinguished testimony of their approbation. But lest some unlucky event should happen, unfavor- 
able to my reputation, I beg it may be remembered by evei'y gentleman in this room, that I, this 
day, declare with the utmost sincerity, I do not think myself equal to the command I am honored 
with. As to pay, sir, I beg leave to assure the Congress that, as no pecuniary consideration could 
have tempted me to accept the arduous employment, at the expense of my domestic ease and hap- 
piness, I do not wish to make any profit from it. I will keep an exact account of my expenses. 
Those, I doubt not, they will discharge, and that is all I desire." ■* Page 232. 

^ Artemas Ward, Charles Lee, PhiMp Schuyler, and Israel Putnam, were appointed riiajor- 
(/enerals; Horatio Gates, adjutant-general ; and Seth Ponicroy, Richard Montgomery, David Wooster, 
William Heath, Joseph Spencer, John Thomas, John Sullivan, and Nathaniel Green (all New- 
England men), hrigadier-generals. '' Page 232. 



1775.] FIRST YEAR OP THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 239 

fourteen thousand strong at the close of the year, extended from Roxbury on 
the right, to Prospect Hill, two miles north-west of Breed's Hill, on the left. 
The right was commanded bv General Ward, the left by General Lee. The 
centre, at Cambridge, was under the immediate control of the commander-in- 
chief 




At the close of May, Congress sent an affectionate address to the people of 
Canada. They were cordially invited to join their Anglo-American^ neighbors' 
in efforts to obtain redress of grievances, but having very little sympathy in 
language, religion, or social condition with them, they refused, and were neces- 
sarily considered positive supporters of the royal cause. The capture of the 
two fortresses on Lake Champlain^ [May, 1775], having opened the way to the 
St. Lawrence, a well-devised plan to take possession of that province and pre- 
vent its becoming a place of rendezvous and supply of invading armies from 
Great Britain, was matured by Congress and the commander-in-chief* To 



' Note 1, page 193. 

' The Congress of 1774, made an appeal To the inhabitanis of Quebec, in which was clearly set 
forth the grievances of the colonists, and an invitation to fraternize with those ah-eady in union. 

' Page 234. 

* A committee of Congress, consisting of Dr. Franklin, Thomas Lynch, and Benjamin Harrison, 
went to Cambridge, in August, and there the plan of the campaign against Canada was arranged. 



240 THE REVOLUTION. [1775. 

accomplish tliis, a body of New York and New England troops were placed 
under the command of CJenerals Schuyler' and Montgomery,' and ordered to 
proceed by way of Lake Champlain to Montreal and Quebec. 

Had Cono-ress listened to the earnest advice of Colonel Ethan Allen, to 
invade Canada immediately after the capture of Ticonderoga and Crown Point, 
the result of the expedition would doubtless have been very different, for at that 
time the British forces in the province were few, and they had made no prepar- 
ations for hostilities. It was near the close of August before the invading army 
appeared before St. John on the Sorel, the first military post within the Cana- 
dian line. Deceived in regard to the strength of the garrison and the dispo- 
sition of the Canadians and the neighboring Indians, Schuyler fell back 
to Isle Aux Noix,^ and after making preparations to fortify it, he hastened to 
Ticonderoga to urge forward more troops. Sickness compelled him to return 
to Albany, and the whole command devolved upon Montgomery, his second in 
command. That energetic officer did not remain lone; within his island intrench- 
ments, and toward the close of September, he laid siege to St. John. The gar- 
rison maintained an obstinate resistance for more than a month, and Montgomery 
twice resolved to abandon it. During the siege, small detachments of brave 
men went out upon daring enterprises. One, of eighty men, under Colonel 
Ethan Allen,'' pushed across the St. Lawrence, and attacked Montreal [Sep- 
tember 25, 1775], then garrisoned by quite a strong force under General 
Prescott.^ This was done at the suggestion of Colonel John Brown, who was 
to cross the river with his party, a little above, and co-operate with Allen. He 
failed to do so, and disaster ensued. Allen and his party were defeated, and 
he was made prisoner and, with several of his men, was sent to England in irons. 
Another expedition under Colonel Bedell, of New Hampshire, was more suc- 
cessful. They captured the strong fort (but feeble garrison) at Chambly 
[October 30], a few miles north of St. John; and at about the same time, Sir 
Guy Carleton, governor of Canada, with a reinforcement for the garrison of St. 
John, was repulsed [November 1] by a party under Colonel Warner, at 
Longueil, nearly opposite INIontreal. These events alarmed Preston, the com- 
mander of St. John, and he surrendered that post to Montgomery, on the 8d of 
November. 

When the victory was complete, the Americans pressed on toward IMont- 



' Philip Schuyler was bom at Albany, New York, in 1733, and was one of the wisest and best 
men of his time. He was a captain under Sir 'William Johnson [page 190] in 1755, and was active 
in the public service, chiefly in civil aftairs, from that time until the Revolution. During that 
struggle, he was very prominent, and after the war, was almost continually engaged in public life, 
until his de ith, which occurred in 1804. 

- Richard Montgomery was born in Ireland, in 1737. He was with "Wolfe, at Quebec [page 
"201], and afterward married a sister of Chancellor Livingston, and settled in the State of New York, 
lie gave promise of great mihtary ability, when death ended his career. See portrait on page 242. 

^ Note 8, page 197. 

* Ethan Allen was born in Litchfield county, Connecticut. He went to Vermont at an early 
age, and in 1770 was one of the bold leaders there in ths opposition of the settlers to the territorial 
claims of New York. He was never engaged in active military services after his capture. He died 
in Vermont in February, 1789, and liis remains lie in a cemetery two miles from Burlington, near 
the W'inooski. ^ Page 271. 



1775.] FIRST YEAR OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 241 

real. Governor Carleton, conscious of his weakness, immediately retreated on 
board one of the vessels of a small fleet lying in the river, and escaped to Que- 
bec; and on the following day [November 13], JMontgomery entered the city 
in triumph. He treated the people humanely, gained their respect, and with 
the Avoolen clothing found among the spoils, he commenced preparing his sol- 
diers for the rigors of a Canadian winter. There was no time to be lost, by 
delays. Although all their important posts in Canada were in possession of the 
patriots, yet, Montgomery truly said, in a letter to Congress, " till Quebec is 
taken, Canada is unconquered. " Impressed with this idea, he determined to 
push forward to the capital, notwithstanding the inclemency of the weather and 
the desertion of his troops. Winter frosts were binding the waters, and blind- 
ing snow was mantling the whole country. 

The spectacle presented by this little army, in the midst of discouragements 
of every kind, was one of great moral grandeur. Yet it Avas not alone at that 
perilous hour ; for while this expedition, so feeble in number and supplies, was 
on its way to achieve a great purpose, another, consisting of a thousand men, 
under Colonel Benedict Arnold,' had left Cambridge [Sept., 177")], and was 
making its way through the deep wilderness by the Kennebec and Chaudiere' 
Rivers, to join Montgomery before the walls of Quebec. That expedition was 
one of the most wonderful on record. For thirty-two days they traversed a 
gloomy wilderness, without meeting a human being. Frost and snow were 
upon the ground, and ice was upon the surface of the marshes and the streams, 
Avhich they were compelled to traverse and ford, sometimes arm-pit deep in 
water and mud. Yet they murmured not ; and even women followed in their 
train.^ After enduring incredible toils and hardships, exposed to intense cold 
and biting hunger, they arrived at Point Levi,* opposite Quebec, on the 9th of 
November. Four days afterward [Nov. 13], and at about the same time when 
Montgomery entered Montreal, the intrepid Arnold, with only seven hundred 
and fifty half- naked men, not more than four hundred muskets, and no artil- 
lery, crossed the St. Lawrence to Wolfe's Cove,^ ascended to the Plains of 
Abraham,' and boldly demanded a surrender of the city and garrison within the 
massive walls. Soon the icy winds, and intelligence of an intended sortie' from 
the garrison, drove Arnold from his bleak encampment, and he ascended the 
St. Lawrence to Point an Trembles^ tAventy miles above Quebec, and there 



' Pa<re 234. ^ Pronounced Sho-de-are. 

' Judoje Henry, of Pennsylvania, then a yonng man, accompanied the expedition. He wrote 
an account of the siege of Quebec, and in it lie mentions the wives of Sergeant Grier and of a pri- 
vate soldier, who accompanied them. "Entering the ponds," he says, "and breaking the ice here 
and tliere with the butts of our guns, and our feet, we were soon waist-deep in mud and water. Aa 
is generally the case witli youths, it came to my mind that a better path niigiit be found than that 
of the more elderly guide. Attempting this, the water in a trice cooling my arm-pits, made me 
gladly return in the file. Now, Mrs. Grier had got before me. My mind was humbled, yet aston- 
islied. at tlie exertions of this good woman." Like the soldiers, she waded through the deep waters 
and the mud. 

* Page 201. Several men who were afterward prominent actors in the Revolution, accompanied 
Arnold in this expedition. Among them, also, was Aaron Burr, then a youth of twenty, who was 
afterward Vice-President of the United States. ' Page 202. * Page 202. 

' This is a French term, signiticant of a sudden sally of troops from a besieged city or fortress, 
to attack the besiegers. See pixgo 434, 

16 



242 



THE REVOLUTION. 



[1775. 



awaited the arrival of Montgomery. These brave generals met on the 1st of 
December [1775], and woolen clothes which Montgomerj brought from Mont- 
real, were placed on the shivering limbs of Arnold's troops. The united forces, 
about nine hundred strong, then marched to Quebec. 

It was on the evening of the 5th of December when the Americans reached 
Quebec, and the next morning early, Montgomery sent a letter to Carleton, by 
a fla,<T,' demanding an immediate surrender. The flag was fired upon, and the 
invaders were defied. With a few light cannons and some mortars, and ex- 
posed to almost daily snow-storms in the open fields, the Americans besieged 
the city for three weeks. Success appearing only in assault, that measure was 
ao-reed upon, and before dawn, on the morning of the last 
day of the year [Dec. 31, 1775J, while snow was falling 
thickly, the attempt was made. Montgomery had formed 
his little army into four columns, to assail the city at differ- 
ent points. One of these, under Arnold, was to attack the 
lower town, and march along the St. Charles to join another 
division, under Montgomery, who was to approach by way 
of Cape Diamond,' and the two were to attempt a forced pass- 
age into the city, through Preseott Gate.^ At the same 
time, the other two columns, under Majors Livingston and 
BroAvn, were to make a feigned attack upon the upper town, from tlie Plains 
of Abraham. In accordance with this plan, Montgomery descended Wolfe's 
llavine, and marched carefully along the ice-strewn beach, toward a pallisado 
and battery at Cape Diamond. At the head of his men, in the face of the 
driving snow, he had passed the pallisade unopposed, 
when a single discharge of a cannon from the battery, 
loaded with grape-shot,^ killed him instantly, and sIcav 
several of his officers, among whom were his two aids, 
McPherson and Cheeseman. His followers instantly re- 
treated. In the mean while, Arnold had ]>een severely 
wounded, Avhile attacking a barrier on the St. Charles,^ 
and the command of his division devolved upon Captain 
Morgan.'' whose expert riflemen, with Lamb's artillery, 
forced their way into the lower town. After a contest 
of several hours, the Americans, under Morgan, were obliged to surrender them- 




•WALLS OF QUEBEC. 




GENERAL MONTGOJIERT. 



' Messengers are sent from army to army -with a white flag, indicating a desire for a peaceful 
interview. Tluese flags, by common consent, are respected, and it is considered an outrage to fire 
on the bearer of one. Tlie Americans were regarded as rebels, and imdeserving the usual courtesy. 

^ The high rocky promontory on whicli the citadel stands. 

° Preseott Gate is on tlie St. La^\'rence side of tlio town, and tliere bars Mountain-street in its 
.''inuous way from the water up into the walled city. The above diagram shows tlie plan of tlie city 
'valls, and relative positions of the several gates mentioned. A is tlie St. Charles River, B tlip St 
l.a\vrence, a "Wolfe and Montcalm's monument [page 202], b the place where Montgomery fell, c 
the place where Arnold was wounded. 

* These are small balls confined in a cluster, and then discharged at once from a cannon. They 
scatter, and do great execution. 

' This was at the foot of the precipice, below the present grand hatteiy, near St. Paul's-street. 

* Afterward the famous General Morgan, whose rifle corps became so renowned, and who gained 
the victory at The Coivjpens, in the winter of 1781. See page 331. 



1775.] FIRST YEAR OF THE "WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 243 

selves prisoners of war. The whole loss of the Americans, under Montgomery 
and Arnold, in this assault, was about one hundred and sixty. The British loss 
was only about tAventy killed and wounded. 

Colonel Arnold, with the remainder of the troops, retired to Sillery, where 
he formed a camp, and passed a rigorous Canadian winter. He was relieved from 
chief command by General Wooster,' on the 1st of April, who came down from 
Montreal with reinforcements, Avhen another ineffectual attempt was made to 
capture Quebec. When, a month afterward, General Thomas took the chief 
command [May, 1776], Carleton was receiving strong reinforcements from 
England, and the patriots were compelled to abandon all hope of conquering 
Canada. They were obliged to retreat so hastily before the overwhelming 
forces of Carleton, that they loft their stores and sick behind them.'^ Abandon- 
ing one post after another, the Americans were driven entirely out of Canada by 
the middle of June. 

The Virginians were rolling on the car of the Revolution, with a firm and 
steady hand, while the patriots were suffering defeats and disappointments at 
the North. We have already alluded to the fact, that the people of Williams- 
burg, then the capital of Virginia, had driven Lord Dunmore. the royal gov- 
ernor, away from his palace, to take refuge on board a ship of war.^ He was 
the first royal representative who " abdicated government,'' and he was greatly 
exasperated because he was compelled to do so in a very humiliating manner. 
From that vessel he sent letters, messages, and addresses to the Virginia House 
of Burgesses,'' and received the same in return. Each exhibited much sjDirit. 
Finally, in the autumn, the governor proceeded to Norfolk, with the fleet, and 
collecting a force of Tories and negroes, commenced depredations in lower Vir- 
ginia. With the aid of some British vessels, he attacked Hampton, near Old 
Point Comfort,^ on the 24th of October, and was repulsed. He then declared 
open war. The Virginia militia flew to arms, and in a severe battle, fought on 
the 9th of December, at the Great Bridge, near the Dismal Swamp, twelve 
miles from Norfolk, Dunmore was defeated, and compelled to seek safety with 
the British shipping in Norfolk harbor. In that battle, the regiment of men, 
chiefly from Culpepper county, raised by Patrick Henry, and at the head of 
whom he demanded payment for the powder removed from Williamsburg, "^ did 
very important service.'' 

' Pap:e 270. 

^ General Thomas was seized with the small-pox, which had been ratjing- some time in the 
American cainp, and died at Chambly on the 30tli of May. He was a native of Plymouth. Mass.. 
and wa,s one of the first eiji:ht brigadiers apjiointed l)y Congress [note ,'•, page 238]. Carleton 
treated the prisoners and sick with great humanitj'. He afterward, on the death of las father, be- 
came Lord Dorchester. He died in 1808, aged eighty-three years. 

= Page 237. * Page 71. " * Page G-1 ' Page 237, 

'' This regiment had adopted a flag with the significant device of a coiled 
rattle-snake, seen in the engraving. This device was upon many flags in the 
army and navy of the Revolution. The expression, " Don't tread on me," 
had a double signification. It might be said in a supplicating tone, " Don't 
tread on me;" or menacingly, '-Don't tread on ?7?e." Tlie soldiers were 
dressed in green hunting-shirts, with Henry's words. Liberty ok Death 
[page 237], in large white letters, on their bosoms. They had bucks' tails 
in their hats, and in their belts tomahawks and scalping-knives. Their CULPEPPER FLAG, 
fierce appearance alarmed tlie people, as they marched through the country. 




244 THE REVOLUTION". [1776. 

Five days after the battle at the Great Bridge, the Virginians, under 
Colonel Woodford, entered Norfolk in triumph [Dec. 14, 1775], and the next 
morning they were joined by Colonel Robert Howe,' with a North Carolina 
regiment, when the latter assumed the general command. Dunmore was greatly 
exasperated by these reverses, and, in revenge, he caused Norfolk to be burned 
early on the morning of the 1st of January, 1776. The conflagration raged 
for fifty hours, and while the wretched people were witnessing the destruction 
of their property, the modern Nero caused a cannonade to be kept up.^ When 
the destruction was complete, he proceeded to play the part of a marauder along 
the defenseless coast of Virginia. For a time he made his head quarters upon 
Gwyn's island, in Chesapeake Bay, near the mouth of the Piankatank River, 
from which he was driven, with his fleet, by a brigade of Virginia troops under 
General Andrew Lewis." After committing other depredations, he went to the 
West Indies, carrying with him about a thousand negroes which he had col- 
lected during his marauding campaign, where he sold them, and in the follow- 
ing autumn returned to England. These atrocities kindled an intense flame 
of hatred to royal rule throughout the whole South, and a desire for political 
independence of Great Britain budded spontaneously in a thousand hearts 
where, a few months before, the plant of true loyalty was blooming. 



CHAPTER III. 

SECOND YEAR OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. [1776.] 

There was great anxiety in the public mind throughout the colonies at the 
opening of the year 1776. The events of the few preceding months appeared 
unpropitious for the republican cause, and many good and true men were dis- 
posed to pause and consider, before going another step in the path of rebellion. 
But the bolder leaders in the senate and in the camp were undismayed ; and 
the hopeful mind of Washington, in the midst of the most appalling discourage- 
ments, faltered not for a moment. He found himself strong enough to be the 
efiectual jailor of the British army in Boston, and now he was almost prepared 
to commence those blows which finally drove that army and its Tory abettors to 
the distant shores of Nova Scotia.'' He had partially re-organized the conti- 

■ Page 292. 

' When Dunmore clestro3'ed Norfolk, its population was six tliousand ; and so rapidly was it 
increasing in business and wealth, that in two years, from 1773 to 1775, the rents in the city in- 
creased from forty thousand to fifty thousand dollars a year. The actual loss by the cannonade and 
conflagration was estimated at fifteen hundred thousand dollars. The personal suffering was incon- 
ceivable. 

^ General Lewis was a native of Virginia, and was in the battle when Braddock was killed. 
He was the commander of the Virginia troops in the battle at Point Pleasant [note 4, page 237], 
in the summer of 1774. He left the army, on account of illness, in 1780, and died not long after- 
ward, while absent from home. * Note 2, page 80. 



1776.] 



SECOND YEAR OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 



245 



nental forces under his command ; and on the first of January, 1T76, he unfurled 

the Union Flag, for the first time, over the American camp 

at Cambridge.' His army had then dwindled to less than 

ten thousand effective men, and these were scantily fed and 

clothed, and imperfectly disciphncd. But the camp was well 

supplied with provisions, and about ten thousand minute-men,^ 

chiefly in Massachusetts, were held in reserve, ready to march 

when called upon. 

During the summer and autumn of 1775, the Continental Congress had put 
forth all its energies in preparations for a severe struggle with British power, 
now evidently near at hand. Articles of war were agreed to on the 30th of 
June ; a declaration of the causes for taking up arms was issued on the 6th of 




t^NION FLAG. 







Six '£tOl£%^§. ^B^W 

•yHISBiTtentulet^lwh ^ 

t-i,- BfSTct- to recelv? < -_ 
MX SPANISH MIXIED ■^'^ 
DOELAJ^S. or the 
Value thereof inCOLD 
orSlLVER ««rd.„c-to 
J Rcioiutun of COV 
GRESSMUiat Ph!- 













A BILL OF CREDIT, OR COXTINEXTAL MONEY. 



July ; and before the close of the year, bills of credit, known as '' continental 
money," representing the value of six millions of Spanish dollars, had been 
issued.' A naval establishment had also been commenced p and at the opening 



' The hoisting of that ensign was Imilod by General Howe, the British commander in Boston, witli 
great joy, for ho regarded it as a token that a gracious speech of tlie king on American affairs, lately 
communicated to Parliament, was wc>ll received l^y the army, and that submission would si)ccdily 
follow. That flag was composed of thirteen stripes, alternate red and white, symbolizing the thir- 
teen revolted colonies. In one corner was tlie device of the British Union Flag, namely, the cross of 
St. George, composed of a horizontal and perpendicular bar, and the cross of St. Andrew (repi-esent- 
ing Scotland), which is in the form of x . It was the appearance of that s^-mbol of the British 
union that misled Howe. This flag is represented in the above littlo sketch. On the 14th of June, 
1777, Congress ordered ''thirteen stars, -uhite, in a blue field," to be put in the place of the British 
union device. Such is the design of our flag at the present day. A star has been added for every 
new State admitted into the Union, while the original number of stripes is retained. 

" Pago 229. 

' The resolution of the Continental Congres.<5, providing for the emission of bills, was adopted on 
t!io 22d of June, 1775. The bUls were printed and issued soon after, and other emissions wero 
authorized, from time to time, during about four years. At the beginning of 1780, Congress had 
issued two hundred millions of dollars in paper money. After the second year, these bUls began to 
depreciate; and in 1780, forty paper dollars were worth only one in specie. At the close of 1781, 
they were worthless. They liad performed a temporary good, but were finally productive of great 
pubhc evil, and much individual suffering. Some of these bills arc yet in existence, and are con- 
sidored great curiosities. They were rudely engraved, and printed on thick paper, which caused 
the British to call it "the paste-board money of the rebela" * Note 1, page 307. 



246 THE REVOLUTION. [17T6. 

of 1776, many expert privateersmen* were hovering along our coasts, to the 
great terror and annoyance of British merchant vessels. 

There had been, up to this time, a strange apathy concerning American 
affairs, in the British Parliament, owing, chiefly, to the confidence reposed in 
the puissance of the imperial govei-nment, and a want of knowledge relative to 
the real strength of the colonies. Events had now opened the eyes of British 
statesmen to a truer appreciation of the relative position of the contestants, and 
the importance of vigorous action ; and at the close of 1775, Parliament had 
made extensive arrangements for crushing the rebellion. An act was passed 
[Nov., 1775], which declared the revolted colonists to be rebels ; forbade all 
intercourse with them ; authorized the seizure and destruction or confiscation 
of all American vessels ; and phiced the colonies under martial law.* An ag- 
o-reo-ate land and naval force of fifty-five thousand men was voted for the 
American service, and more than a million of dollars were appropriated for their 
pay and sustenance. In addition to these, seventeen thousand troops were hired 
by the British government from the Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel, and other 
pettv German rulers,^ to come hither to butcher loyal subjects Avho had peti- 
tioned for their rights for ten long years, and now, even with arms in their 
hands, Avere praying for justice, and begging for reconciliation. This last act 
filled the cup of government iniquity to the brim. It was denounced in Par- 
liament by the true friends of England, as "disgraceful to the British name," 
and it extinguished the last hope of reconciliation. The sword was now drawn, 
and the scabbard was thrown away. 

Intelligence of the proceedings in Parliament reached America in January, 
1776, and Congress perceived the necessity of putting forth immediate and effi- 
cient efforts for the defense of the extensive sea-coast of the colonies. Washing- 
ton was also urged to attack the British in Boston, immediately ; and, by great 
efforts, the regular army was augmented to about fourteen thousand men to- 
ward the close of February. In the mean while, the provincial Congress of 
Massachusetts organized the militia of the province anew, and ten regiments, 
making about three thousand men, arrived in camp early in February. The 
entire army now numbered about seventeen thousand effective men, while the 
British force did not exceed five thousand fit for duty. Reinforcements were 
daily expected from Halifax, New York, and Ireland, and the present seemed 
a proper moment to strike. Bills of credit,' representing four millions of dol- 
lars more, were issued ; Congress promised energetic co-operation ; and on the 

' Private individual?, having a license from government to arm and equip a vessel, and with it 
to depredate upon the commerce of a nation with which that people are then at war, are called 
privateersmen, and their vessels are known as privateers. During the Revolution, a vast number 
of English vessels were captured by American privateersmen. It is, after all, only legalized piracy, 
and enlightened nations begin to view it so. ^ Note 8. page 170. 

' The Landgrave (or petty prince) of Hesse-Cassel, having furnished the most considerable por- 
tion of these troops, they were called by the general name of Hessians. Ignorant, brutal, and 
bloodthirsty, they were hated by the patriots, and despised even by the regular English army. Tliey 
were always employed in posts of greatest danger, or in expeditions least creditable. These troops 
cost the British government almost eight hundred thousand dollars, besides the necessity, according 
to the contract, of defending the little principalities thus stripped, against their foes. 

* Page 245. 



1776.] SECOND YEAR OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 247 

1st of March, Washington felt strong enough to attempt a dislodgment of the 
enemy from the crushed city.' 

On the evening of the 2d of March [1776 J, a heavy caniKjiiade was opened 
upon Boston, from all the American batteries, and was continued, with brief 
intermissions, until the 4th. On the evening of that day, General Thomas,'- 
with twelve hundred men with intrenching tools, and a guard of eight hundred, 
proceeded secretly to a high hill, near Dorchester, on the south side of Boston, 
and before morning, they cast up a line of strong intrcuchments, and planted 
heavy cannons there, which completely comiuauded the city and harbor. It 
was the anniversary of the memorable Boston Massacre,^ and many patriots felt 
the blood coursing more swiftly through their veins, as the recollection of that 
event gave birth to vengeful feelinois. It had nerved their arms while toilino; 
all that long night, and they felt a great satisfaction in knowing that they had 
prepared Avorks which not only greatly astonished and alarmed the British, but 
which would be instrumental in achieving a great victory. The enemy felt the 
danger, and tried to avert it. 

Perceiving the imminent peril of both fleet and army, General Ilowe pre- 
pared an expedition to drive the Americans from their vantage-ground on Dor- 
chester heights. A storm suddenly arose, and made the harbor impassable.* 
The delay allowed the patriots time to make their works almost impi'egnable, 
and the British were soon compelled to surrender as prisoners of Avar, or to 
evacuate the city immediately, to avoid destruction. As prisoners, they would 
have been excessively burdensome to the colonies ; so, having formally agreed 
to allow them to depart without injury, Washington had the inexpressible 
pleasure of saying, in a letter written to the President of Congress, on Sunday, 
the 17th of March, "that this morning the ministerial troops evacuated the 
town of Boston, Avithout destroying it, and that Ave are noAv in full possession." 
Seven thousand soldiers, four thousand seamen, and fifteen hundred families of 
loyalists," sailed for Halifax on that day. 

The gates on Boston Neck were now unbivrred ; and General Ward, Avith 
five thousand of the troops at Roxbury, entered the city, with drums beating, 
and banners waving, greeted on every side with demonstrations of joy by the 
redeemed people. General Putnam soon afterAvard [[March 18j entered Avith 
another division, and. in command of the whole, ho took possession of the city 
and all the forts, in the name of the Thirteen United Colonies. 



» Page 226. "^ Page 243. ^ Page 221. " 

* A similar e\'ent occurred to frustrate the designs of the Britisl\ at Yorktown, several years 
afterward. See page 341. 

* It must be remembered that the Americans were by no means unanimous in their oppositif-n 
to Great Britain. From the beginning there were many who supported tlie crown; and a,-? tli > 
colonists became more and more reljelhous, tliese increa.sed. Some l^ecause they believed their 
brethren to be wrong ; others through timidity ; and a greater number becauso they thought it 
their interest to adhere to the king. The loyalists, or Tories, were the worst and most efficient en- 
emies of the Whigs [note 4, page 220] during the whole Avar. Tlioso who left Boston at tliis time, 
were afraid to encounter the exasperated patriots, Avhen tliey should return to their desolated home.s 
in the city, from which they had been driven by military persecution. The churches had bee" v 
stripped of their pulpits and pews, for fuel, flue shade trees had been burned, and many houses had 
been pillaged and damaged by the soldier^-. 




248 THE REVOLUTION. [177G. 

Washington had been informed, early in January, 
that General Sir Ilcnry Clinton had sailed from Bos- 
ton with a considerable body of troops, on a secret ex- 
pedition. Apprehending that the city of New York 
was his destination, he immediately dispatched General 
Charles Lee to Connecticut to raise troops, and to pro- 
ceed to that city to watch and oppose Clinton wherever 
he might attempt to land. Six weeks before the evacu- 
ation of Boston [March 17, 1776 J, Lee had encamped 
near New York with twelve hundred militia. Already 
GENKRAL . ^^^^ ^^^^^ ^j. j^^j^^^^fyX ^i^^ bccu busy, and overt acts of 

rebellion had been committed by them. They had seized the cannons at Fort 
George," and driven Tryon,^ the royal governor, on board the Asia, a British 
armed vessel in the harbor. In March, Clinton arrived at Sandy Hook, just 
outside New York harbor, and on the same day, the watchful Lee' providen- 
tially entered the city. The movement, although without a knowledge of Clin- 
ton's position, was timely, for it kept him at bay. Foiled in his attempt upon 
New Y''ork, that commander sailed southward, where we shall meet him pres- 
ently. 

The destination of Howe, when he left Boston, was also unknown to Wash- 
ington. Supposing ho, too, would proceed to New Y^ork, he put the main body 
of his army in motion toward that city, as soon as he had placed Boston in a 
state of security. He arrived in New York about the middle of April [April 
14], and proceeded at once to fortify the tovm and vicinity, and also the passes 
of the Hudson Highlands, fifty miles above. In the mean while. General Lee, 
who had been appointed to command the American forces in the South, had 
left his troops in the charge of General Lord Stirling' [March 7], and was 
hastenino; toward the Carolinas to watch the movements of Clinton, arouse the 
Whigs, and gather an army there. 

In the spring of 1776, a considerable fleet, under Admiral Sir Peter Parker, 
was sent from England, to operate against the sea-coast towns of the southern 
colonies. Parker was joined by Clinton, at Cape Fear, in May, when the latter 
took the chief command of all the land forces. The fleet arrived off Charleston 
bar on the 4th of June,' and on the same day, Clinton, with several hundred 
men, landed on Long Island, Avhich lies eastward of Sullivan's Island. Apprised 
of these hostile designs, and elated by a victory obtained by North Carolina 
militia, under Colonel Caswell, over fifteen hundred loyalists^ [February 27, 

' Note 1, pacro 215. 

" This fort stood at the foot of Broadway, on a portion of tlie site of the present "Battery." 

^ Page 223, 

^ Charles Lee was born in "Wales in 17.T1. IIo was a brave officer in the British army during 
the French and Lidian War. He settled in Yirscinia in 1773, and was one of the lirst brigadiers of 
tlie Continental army appointed by Congress. His ambition and perversity of temper, finally caused 
his ruin. He died in Philadelphia in 1782. See page 288. ^ Page 254. 

* These were chiefly Scotch Highlanders, and were led by Donald ilcDonald, an influential 
Scotchman then residing at Cross Creek, now Fayetteville. Tlie husband of Flora McDonald, so 
celebrated in connection with the flight of the young Pretender from Scotland, at the close of the 
rebellion in 1745, was in the battle. Flora was then living at Cross Creek. 



\ 1776.] SECOND YEAR OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 249 

1776], on Moore's Creek, in the present Hanover county, the southern patriots 
had cheerfully responded to the call of Governor Rutledge, and about six thou- 
sand armed men had collected in and near Charleston, 
when the enemy appeared.' The city and eligible fi#^^\ 

posts near it, had been fortified, and quite a strong ^ , Wi 

fort, composed of palmetto logs and sand, and armed '^Ip ^^fet 

with twenty-six mounted cannons, had been erected l|r^,--J|l^ 

upon Sullivan's Island, to command the channel M^-' '■^'i hr-'^. .: 

leading to the town. This fort wns garrisoned by - * j^P^^ '^f ^^^^^ 
about five hundred men, chiefly militia, under Colo- S^^iii^^^^^" 
nel William Moultrie." ^^^W^^^ 

A combined attack, by land and water, upon geneual moultrie. 

Sullivan's Island, was commenced by the British, on 

the morning of the 28th of June, 1776. While the fleet was pouring a terrible 
storm of iron balls upon Fort Sullivan, Clinton endeavored, but in "vain, to 
force a passage across a narrow creek which divided the two islands, in order to 
attack the yet unfinished fortress in the rear. But Colonel Thompson, with a 
small battery on the east end of Sullivan's Island, repelled every forward 
movement of Clinton, while the cannons of the fort were spreading havoc among 
the British vessels.^ The conflict raged for almost ten hours, and only ceased 
when night fell upon the scene. Then the British fleet, almost shattered into frag- 
ments, withdrew, and abandoned the enterprise.^ The slaughter of the British 
had been frightful. Two hundred and twenty-five had been killed or wounded, 
_ while only two of the garrison were killed, and twenty-two were wounded.^ The 
British departed for New York three days afterward" [June 31, 1776], and for 
more than two years, the din of war was not heard below the Roanoke. This 
victory had a most inspiriting efiect upon the patriots throughout the land. 



' General Armstrong of Pennsylvania [pacje 193], had arrived in South Carolina in April, and 
took the general command. Loo arrived on the same day when the British, under Clinton, landed 
on Long Island. 

* Born in South Carolina, in 17.30. Ho was in the Cherokee war [page 204], in 17G1. He was 
an active officer until made prisoner, in 1780, when for two years he was not allowed to bear arms. 
He died in 1805. General Moultrie wrote a very interesting memoir ol the war in the South. 

^ At one time, everv man but Admiral Parker was swept from the decl>: of his vessel. Among 
those who were badly wounded, was Lord William Campbell, the royal governor of South Carolina, 
who afterward died of his wounds. 

* The Acteon, a large vessel, grounded on a shoal between Fort Sullivan and the city, where 
she was burned by the Americans. 

' The strength of the fort consisted in the capacity of the spongy palmetto logs, upon which can- 
non-balls would make very little impression. It appeared to be a very insecure defense, and Leo 
advised Moultrie to abandon it when tlio British approached. But that brave officer would not 
desert it, and was rewarded with victory. The ladies of Charleston presented liis regiment with a 
pair of elegant colors, and the "slaughter pen," as Lee ironically called Fort Sullivan, was named 
Fort Moultrie. During tlie action, the staff, Ijearing a large flag, was cut down by a cannon-ball 
from the fleet. The colors fell outside the fort. A sergeant named Jasper, leaped down from one 
of the bastions, and in the midst of the iron hail that was pouring from the fort, coolly picked up 
the flag, ascended to the bastion, and calling for a sponge-stafl", tied the colors to it, stuck it in the 
sind, and then took his place among his companions in the fort. A few days afterward. Governor 
Rutledge took his own sword from Ids side, and presented it to the bravo Jasper; he also offered 
him a lieutenant's commission, which the yotmg man modestly declined, because he could neither 
read nor write, saying, "I am not fit to keep oflrcers' company — I am but a sergeant." 

* Pasrc 252. 



250 



THE REVOLUTION. 



[1776. 




.STATE HOUSE. 



Important events in the progress of the ^var were now thickening. Re- 
bellion liiid become revolution. While the stirring events at the South, just 

mentioned, were transpiring, and while Wash- 
in ^^ton was augmenting and strengthening the 
continental army in New York, and British 
troops and German hirelings' were approach- 
ing by thousands, the Continental Congress, 
now in permanent session in the State House 
at Philadelphia, had a question of vast im- 
portance under consideration. A few men, look- 
ing beyond the storm-clouds of the present, 
beheld bright visions of glory for their country, 
when the people, now declared to be rebels,'' and out of the protection of the 
British king, should organize themselves into a sovereign nation. " The light- 
ning of the Crusades was in the people's hearts, and it needed but a single 
electric touch, to make it blaze forth upon the world," says James, in writing 
of an earlier disruption of political systems.^ So it was now, in the American 
colonies. The noble figure of an independent nation stood forth with a beauty 
that almost demanded worship. The grand idea began to flash through the 
popular mind at the close of 1775 ; and when, early in 1776, it was tangibly 
spoken by Thomas Paine, in a pamphlet entitled Coitimmi Se?ise* (said to have 
been sug:o-ested by Dr. Rush)/' and whose vigorous thoughts were borne by the 
press to every community, a desire for indepe?idence filled the hearts of the 
people. In less than eighty days after the evacuation of Boston [March 17, 
1776], almost every provincial Assemljly had spoken in favor of independence ; 
and on the 7th of June, in the midst of the doubt, and dread, and hesitation, which 
for twenty days had brooded over the Continental Congress, Richard Henry Lee/ 

' rn<i:e 246. * Page 246. ^ History of the Crusades, by G. P. E. James. 

* Tii3 chief topic of this remarlval^le pamplilet, was the right and expediencj' of colonial inde- 
pendence. Paine also wrote a series of equally powerful papers, called Tlie Crisis. The first num- 
ber was written in Fort Lee, on the Hudson, in December, 1776, and published while Washington 
was on the banks of the Delaware. See page 192. These had a powerful effect in stimulating the 
people to efforts for independence. They were highly valued by the commander-in-chief, and he pro- 
moted their circulation. Writing to a friend soon after the appearance of Common Sense, Washington 
said, "By private letters which I have lately received from Virginia, I find that Common Sense is 
working a powerful change there in the minds of many men." 

* Benjamin Rush was one of the most eminent men of his time, as a physician, a man of science, 
and an active patriot during the whole Revolution. He was born twelve miles from Philadelphia, 
in 1745. He was educated at Princeton, completed his scientific studies in P'dinburg, and after 
his return, he soon rose to the highest eminence in his profession. He was the recipient of many 
honor.s, and as a member of the Continental Congress, in 1776, he advocated and signed the Declar- 
ation of Independence. His labors during the prevalence of yellow fever in Philadelphia, in 1793, 
gave him the imperishable crown of a true philanthropist. He founded the Philadelphia Dispensary 
in 1786; and he was also one of the principal founders of Dickinson College, at Carlisle, Pennsyl- 
vania. He was president of the American Society for the abolition of slavery ; of the Philadelphia 
Medical Society ; vice-president of the Philadelphia Bible Society; and one of the vice-presidents 
of the American Philosophical Society. He died in April, 18i;], at the age of almost sixty-eight 
years. A portrait of Dr. Rush may be found on the next page. 

" Richard Henry Lee was born in Westmoreland county, Virginia, in 1732. He was educated 
in England, and was in pul)lic life most of the time after reaching his majority. He was one of the 
earliest opposers of the Stamp Act; was a member of the first Continental Congress, and signed that 
Declaration of Independence which he so nobly advocated. He was afterward a member of the 
United States Senate; and soon after his retirement to private life, in 1794, he died, when in the 



ITTG.] SECOND YEAR OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 251 

of Virginia, arose in his place, and with his clear, musical voice, read aloud 
the Resolution, "That tliese united colonies are, and, of right, ought to be, 
free and independent States ; that thej are absolved from all allegiance to the 
British crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of 
Great Britain, is, and ought to be totally dissolved." ' 




This was an exceedingly bold step, and the resolution did not meet with 
general favor in Congress, at first. Many yet hoped, even against hope, for 
reconciliation, and thought it premature, and there were some timid ones Avho 
trembled while standing so near the borders of high treason. After debating 
the subject for three days, the further consideration of it was postponed until 
the first of July. A committee' was appointed [June 11], however, to draw 



Kixty-third year of his age. A characteristic anecdote is told of his son, who was at school, in 
England, at the time the Declaration of Independence was promulgated. One day a gentleman 
asked his tutor, "What hoy is tliis?" "He is the son of Ricliard Henry Lee, of America," tho 
tutor replied. The uentleman put his hand on the boy's head, and said, " Wo shall yet see j'our 
father's head upon Tower Hill." The boy instantly answered, " You may have it when you can get 
it." That boy was the late LudwcU Lee, Esq. 

* On the ioth of May, Congress had, by resolution, recommended the establishment of independ- 
ent State governments in all tlie colonics. This, however, was not sufficiently national to suit the 
bolder and wiser members of that bod}', and the people at large. Lee's resolution more iully 
expressed the popular will. 

- Thomas .letTerson, of Virginia; John Adams, of Massachusetts ; Benjamin Franklin, of Peun- 
.sylvania ; Roger Sherman, of Connecticut; and Robert R. Livingston, of New York. Mr. Lee was 
summoned home to the bedside of a sick wife, on the day before the appointment of the committee, 
or he would doubtless have been its chairman. 



252 THE REVOLUTION. [1770. 

up a declaration in accordance with the resolution, and were instructed to report 
on the same day when the latter should be called up. Thomas Jefferson, of 
Virginia, the youngest member of the committee, was chosen its chairman, and 
to him was assigned the task of preparing the Declaration. Adams and Frank- 
lin made a few alterations in his draft, and it was submitted to Congress at the 
same hour when Mr. Lee's resolution was taken up for consideration. On the 
following day [July 2], the resolution was adopted l)y a large majority. The 
Declaration was debated almost two days longer : and finally, at about mid-day, 
on the 4th of July, 1776, the representatives of thirteen colonies unanimously 
declared them free and independent States, under the name of The United 
States of America. Only John Hancock, the president of Congress, signed 
it on that day, and thus it first went forth to the world. It was ordered to be 
written on parchment, and on the 2d of August following, the names of all but 
two of the fifty-six signers,' were placed upon it. These two were added after- 
ward. It had then been read to the army ;" at public meetings ; from a hun- 
dred pulpits, and in all legislative halls in the land, and everywhere awakened 
the warmest responses of approval. 

Pursuant to instructions, General Howe proceeded toward New York, to 
meet General Clinton and Parker's fleet. He left Halifax on the 11th of June, 
[177GJ, and arrived at Sandy Hook' on the 29th. On the 2d of July he took 
possession of Staten Island, where he was joined by Sir Henry Clinton [July 
11], from the South," and his brother, Admiral Lord Howe [July 12], with a 
fleet and a large land force, from England. Before the first of August, other 
vessels arrived with a part of the Hessian troops, ^ and on that day. almost thirty 
thousand soldiers, many of them tried veterans, stood ready to fall upon the 
republican army of seventeen thousand men,'' mostly militia, which lay 
intrenched in New York and vicinity, less than a dozen miles distant.' The 

' This document, containing the autographs of those venerated Others of our republic, is care- 
fully preserved in a glass case, in the rooms of the National Institute at Washington citv. Not one 
of all that baud of patriots now survives. Charles Carrol was the last to leave us. He departed in 
1832, at the age of ninety years. See Supplement. It is worthy of remembrance that not one of all 
those signers of the Declaration of Independence, died with a tarnished reputation. The memory 
of all, is sweet. 

- Washington caused it to bo read at the head of each brigade of the army, then in New York 
city, on the 9th of July. That night, citizens and soldiers pulled down the leaden equestrian statue 
of Georo-e III., which stood in tlio Bowling Green, and it was soon afterward converted into bullets 
for the use of the Continental army. Tlio statue was gilded. The head of the horse was toward 
the Hudson River. The Rev. Zadiariah Greene, yet [1856] living at Hempstead, Long Island, 
heard the Declaration read to the soldiers. He was in the army. 

^ Sandy Hook is a low ridge of sand, extending several miles down the New Jersey shore, from 
the entrance to Raritan or Amboy Bay. Between it and the shore, the water is navigable; and 
near the mouth of Shrewsbury River, "the ridge is broken by an inlet. " Page 249. 

* Page 216. 

* There were about twenty-seven thousand men enrolled, but not more than seventeen thousand 
men were fit for duty. A great many were sick, and a large num))cr were without arms. 

' Many of the sliips passed through the Narrows, and ancliored in New York Bay. Howe's 
flag-ship, the Eagle, lay near Governor's Island. While in tliat position, a bold soldier went in a 
submarine vessel, wnth a machine for blowing up a ship, and endeavored to fasten it to the bottom 
of the Eagle, but failed. He was discovered, and barely escaped. An explosion of the machine 
took place near the Eagle, and the commander was so alarmed, tliat she was hastily moved further 
down the Bay. This macliine was constructed by David Buslmell, of Connecticut, and was called a 
torpedo. See Note 2, page 285. 



1776.] SECOND YEAR OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 253 

grand object in view was the seizure of New York and the country along 
the Hudson, so as to keep open a communication with Canada, separate the 
patriots of New England from those of the other States, and to overrun the most 
populous portion of the revolted colonies. This was the military plan, arranged 
by ministers. They had also prepared instructions to their commanding generals, 
to be pacific, if the Americans appeared disposed to submit. Lord Howe' and 
his brother, the general, were commissioned to " grant pardon to all who deserved 
mercy," and to treat for peace, but only on terms of absolute submission on the 
part of the colonies, to the will of the king and parliament. After making a 
foolish display of arrogance and weakness, in addressing General Washington 
as a private gentleman," and being assured that the Americans had been guilty 
of no offense requiring a '"pardon" at their hands, they prepared to strike an 
immediate and effective blow. The British army was accordingly put in motion 
on the morning of the 22d of August [1770], and during that day, ten 
thousand effective men, and forty pieces of cannon, were landed on the west- 
ern end of Long Island, between the present Fort Hamilton and Gravesend 
village. 

Already detachments of Americans under General 
Sullivan, occupied a fortified camp at Brooklyn, 
opposite New York, and guarded seven passes on a 
range of hills which extend from the Narrows to the 
village of Jamaica.^ AVhen intelligence of the landing 
of the invading army reached Washington, he sent 
General Putnam,'' with large reinforcements, to take 
the chief command on Long Island, and to prepare to 
meet the enemy. The American troops on the island . ,, . i^ 

now [August 26], numbered about five thousand. general putn\m 

The British moved in three divisions. The left, 

under General Grant, marched along the shore toward Gowanus ; the right, 
under Clinton and Cornwallis, toward the interior of the island ; and the cen- 
ter, composed chiefly of Hessians, ^ vmder Do Heister, marched up the Flatbush 
road, south of the hills. 

Clinton moved under cover of nifiht, and before dawn on the mornino; of 



' Richard, Earl Howe, was brother of the young Lord Howe [page 197], killed at Ticonderoga. 
He was born in 1725, and died in 1799. 

* The letters of Lord Howe to the American commander-in-chief^ were addressed, " George 
"Washington, Esq." As that did not express the public character of the chief and as he would not 
confer with the enemies of his country in a private capacity, Washington refused to receive tho 
letters. Howe was instructed not to acknowledge the authority of Congress in any wa}', and as 
Washington had received his commission from that bodv, to address him as '•general," would have 
been a recognition of its autiiority. He meant no disrespect to Washington. Congress, by resolu- 
tion, expressed its approbation of Washington's dignified course. 

^ General Nathaniel Green had been placed in command of this division, but having been pros- 
trated by bilious fever, about a week before tlie landing of tlio Britisli at the Narrows, Sullivan was 
placed at the head of the troops. 

* Israel Putnam was born in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1718. Ho was a very useful officer 
during the Freucii and Indi.an war, and was in active service in the continental army, until 1779, 
when bodily inlirmity compelled him to retire. He died in 1790, at tho age of seventy-two years. 

" Page"24G. 




254 



THE REVOLUTION. 



[1776. 




BATTLE OF LONG ISLAND. 



the 27th, he had gained possession of the Jamaica 
pass, near the present East New York. At the 
same time. Grant was pressing forward along the 
shore of New York Bay, and at day-break, he 
encountered Lord Stirling,' where the monuments 
of Greenwood cemetery now dot the hills. De 
Heister advanced from Flatbush at the same hour, 
and attacked Sullivan, who, having no suspicions 
of the movements of Clinton, was watching the 
F]atl)ush Pass. A bloody conflict ensued, and while it was progressing, 
Clinton descended from the wooded hills, by the way of Bedford, to gain Sul- 
livan's rear. As soon as the latter perceived his peril, he ordered a retreat 
to the American lines at Brooklyn. It was too late : Clinton drove him back 
upon the Hessian bayonets, and after fighting desperately, hand to hand, with 
the foe in front and rear, and losing a greater portion of his men, Sullivan was 
compelled to surrender. 

As usual, misfortunes did not come single. While these disasters were 
occuning on the left, Cornwallis descended the port-road to Gowanus, and 
attacked Stirling. They fought desperately, until Stirling was made prisoner.^ 
Many of his troops were drowned while endeavoring to escape across the Gow- 
anus Creek, as the tide was rising ; and a large number were captured. At 
noon the victory for the British was complete. About five hundred Americans 
Avcre killed or Avounded, and eleven hundred were made prisi^uers. These were 
soon suffering dreadful horrors in prisons and prison-ships, at New Y'^ork.^ 
The British loss in killed, wounded, and prisoners, Avas three hundred and sixty- 
seven. 

It vras Avitli the deepest anguish that Washington had vicAved, from Ncav 
Y'ork, the destruction of his troops, yet he dared not Aveaken his poAver in the 
city, by sending reinforcements to aid them. lie crossed OA'er on the foUoAving 
morning [August 281, Avitli Mifflin,* Avho had come doAvn from the upper end 
of Y^ork island Avitli a thousand troops, and was gratified to find the enemy 
encamped in front of Putnam's lines, and delaying an attack until the British 
fleet should co-operate with him. This delay allowed Washington time to form 
and execute a |)lan for the salvation of the remainder of the army. noAV too 
Avcak to resist an assault Avith any hope of success. Under coA^er of a heavy 
fog, Avhich fell upon the hostile camps at midnight of the 29th, and continued 
until the morniDg of the 30th, he silently AvithdreAV them from the camp," and, 



^ "William Alexander, Lord Stirlinp;, was a descendant of the Scotch earl of Stirling:, mentioned 
in note 2, page 80. He was born in the city of New York, in 1726. He became attached to the 
])atriot cause, and was an active officer durinir the war. Ho died in 1783, aged fifty-seven years. 

'■^ Stirling was sent immediately on board of the Eagle, Lord Plowe's flag-ship. 

^ Among the prisoners was General Nathaniel WoodhuU [Note 1, page 198], late president of 
the provincial Congress of New York. He was taken prisoner on the 3()th, and after being severely 
Avounded at the time, he was so neglected, that his injuries proved fiital in the course of a few days. 
His age was fifty-three. See Onderdonk's Rerolufiunary Incidents of Long Island. * Page 352. 

^ Duruig the night, a woman living near the present Fulton Ferry, where the Americans 
embarked, having become offended at some of the patriots, sent her negro servant to inform the 




Retreat of the Americans from Long Island. 



1776.] SECOND YEAR OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 257 

unperceived by the British, they all crossed over to New York in safety, carry- 
ing every thing with them but their heavy cannons. AVhen the fog rolled away, 
and the sunlight burst upon Brooklyn and New York, the last boat-load of 
patriots had reached the city shore. Mifflin, with his Pennsylvania battalion, 
and the remains of two broken Maryland regiments, formed the covering party. 
Washington and his staff, who had been in the saddle all night, remained until 
the last company had embarked. Surely, if " the stars in their courses fought 
against Sisera," in the time of Deborah,' the wings of the Cherubim of Mercy 
and Hope were over the Americans on this occasion. Howe, who felt sure of 
his prey, was greatly mortified, and prepared to make an immediate attack 
upon New York, before the Americans should become reinforced, or should 
escape from it." 

Unfortunately for the cause of freedom, at that time, the troops under 
Washington lacked that unity of feeling and moral stamina, so necessary for 
the accomplishment of success in any struggle. Had patriotism prevailed in 
every heart in the American army, it might have maintained its position in the 
city, and kept the British at bay. But there were a great many of merely 
selfish men in the camp. Sectional differences' weakened the bond of union, and 
immorality of every kind prevailed.* There was also a general spirit of insub- 
ordination, and the disasters on Long Island disheartened the timid. Hundreds 
deserted the cause, and went home. Never, during the lono; struggle of after 
years, was the hopeful mind of Washington more clouded by doubts, than 
during the month of September, 1776. In the midst of the gloom and perplex- 
ity, he called a council of war [Sept. 12th], and it was determined to send the 
military stores to Dobbs' Ferry, a secure place twenty-two miles up the Hud- 
son, and to retreat to and fortify Harlem Heights,^ near the upper end of York 



British of the movement. The negro fell into the hands of the Hessians. They could not under- 
stand a word of his language, and detained him until so late in the morning that his information was 
of no avail. * Judges, chapter v., verse 20. 

^ He ordered several vessels of war to sail around Long Island, and come down the Sound to 
Flushing Bay, so as to cover the intended landing of the troops upon the main [page 258], in 
Westchester county. In the mean while, Howe made an overture for peace, supposing the late dis- 
aster would dispose the Americans to listen eagerly to almost any proposition for reconciliation. 
He parolled General Sullivan, and by him sent a verbal communication to Congress, suggesting a 
committee for conference. It was appointed, and consisted of Dr Franklin, Jolin xVdams, and 
Edward Rutledge. On the 11th of September, they met Lord Howe at the house of Captain 13illop. 
on Staten Island, opposite Perth Amboy. The committee would treat only for inck'pendf'we, and 
the conference had no practical result, except to widen the breach. When Howe spoke patron- 
izingly oi proffcfion for tlie Americans. Dr. Franklin told him courteou.sly, that the Americans were 
not in need of British protection, for they were fully able to protect themselves. 

^ The army, which at first consisted cliicfly of New England people, had been reinforced by 
others from New York, New Jersej^, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and Tirginia, all of them 
jealous of tlieir respective claims to precedence, and materially differing in their social habits. 

* Cotemporary writers give a sad picture of the army at tliis time. Among many of the suli- 
ordinate officers, greed usurped the place of patriotism. Officers were elected on condition tliat tliey 
should throw their pay and rations into a joint stock for the iK-nefit of a company ; surgeons sold 
ro(!omniendations for furlouglis, for able-bodied men, at sixpence each ; and a captain was casliiered 
for stealing blankets from his soldiers. Men went out in squads to plunder from friend and foe, to 
the disgrace of tlie army. Its appointments, too, were in a wretched condition. The surgeons' 
department lacked instruments. According to a general return of fifteen regiments, there were not 
more than sufficient instruments for one Ijattalion. [See Washington's Letter to Congress, Sept. 
24, 177G.] 

'•' Tliose extend from the plain oti whicli the village of Harlem stands, about seven and a half 

17 



258 thp: revolution. [1776. 

Island.' This was speedily accomplished; and when, on the 15th, a strong 
detachment of the British army crossed the East River from Long Island, and 
landed three miles above the town, at Kipps' Bay (now foot of Thirty-fourth- 
street, East River), without much opposition,^ the greater portion of the Amer- 
icans were busy in fortifying their new camp on Harlem Heights. 

The invadinf Britons formed a line almost across the island to Bloomingdale, 
within two miles of the American intrenchments, just beyond the present Man- 
hattanville, while the main army on Long Island was stationed at different 
points from Brooklyn to Flushing.' ' On the 16th, detachments of the belliger- 
ents met on Harlem plains, and a severe skirmish ensued. The Americans 
were victorious, but their triumph cost the lives of tAvo brave officers — Colonel 
Knowlton of Connecticut, and Major Leitch of Virginia. Yet the effect of the 
\ictory was ins})iriting ; and so f uthfully did the patriots ply muscle and im- 
plement, that l>efore Howe could make ready to attack them, they had con- 
structed double lines of intrenchments, and were prepared to defy him. At 
once perceiving the inutility of attacking the Americans in front, he next en- 
deavored to gain their rear. Leaving quite a strong force to keep possession 
of the city^ [Sept. 20], he sent three armed vessels up the Hudson to cut off 
the communications of the Americans with New Jersey, while the great bulk 
of his army (now reinforced by an arrival of fresh troops from England)' made 
their way [Oct. 12] to a point in Westchester county," beyond the Harlem 
River. When Washington perceived the designs of his en- 
emy, he placed a garrison of almost three thousand men, 
under Colonel jMa2;aw, in Eort Washino-ton,'' and withdrew 
the remainder of his army'' to a position on the Bronx River, 
, ,.. — ^. u in Westchester county, to oppose Howe, or retreat in safety 

r^'V.i^y, to the Hudson Highlands, if necessary. Pie established his 

head-quarters at White Plains village, and there, on the 28th 




FORT WASUINUTDX. 



miles from the City Hall, New York to Two Hundred and Sixth-street, near King's Bridge, at the 
upper end of the island. ' Also called Manhattan. See note 1, page 48. 

^ Some Connecticut troops, frightened b}' the number and martial appearance of the Britisli, 
fled at their approach. "Washington, then at Harlem, heard the cannonade, leaped into his saddle, 
and approaclied Kipp's Bay in time to meet the flying fugitives. Mortified by this exhil.ntion of 
cowardice before the enemy, the commander-in-chief tried to rally them, and in that effort, he was 
BO unmindful of himself, that he came near being captured. 

^ Wishing to ascertain the exact condition of the British army, Washington engaged Captain 
Natlian Hale, of Knowltou's regiment, to secretly visit their camps on Long Island, and make 
observations. He was caught, taken to Howe's head-quarters. Turtle Bay, New York, and exe- 
cuted as a spy by tlie brutal provost-marshal, Cunningham. He was not allowed to have a Bible 
nor clergj'man during his last hours, nor t(j send letters to his friends. His fate and Anch-e'.s [page 
326] have been compared. For particulars of this affair, see Onderdonk's Revolutionary Incidents 
of Lrmg Island, etc., and Lossing's Pictorial Field-Book of the Revolution. 

* At one o'clock on the morning of the 21st, a fire broke out in a small groggery near the foot 
of Broad-street, and before it was extinguished, about five hundred buildings were destroyed. Tlie 
British charged the fire upon the Americans. Although such incendiarism had been contemplated 
when the Americans found themselves compelled to evacuate the city, this was purely accidental. 

* The whole British army now numbered about 35,000 men. 
° Tiirog's Neck, sixteen miles from the city. 

"" Fort Washington was erected early in 1776, upon the highest ground on York Island, ten 
miles from the city, between One Hundred and Eighty -first-street and One Hundred and Eighty- 
sixth-streets, and overlooking both the Hudson and Harlem Rivers. There are a few traces of its 
■embankments yet [1856] visible. 

" Nominally, nineteen thousand men, but actually effective, not more than half that number. 



177G.] SECOND YEAR OF THE WAR FOR INDE PE ND E XC E. 259 

of October, a severe engagement took place.' The Americans Avere driven from 
their position, and three days afterward [Nov. 1, 1776J, formed a strong camp 
on the hills of North Castle, five miles further north. The British general 
was afraid to pursue them ; and after strengthening the post at Peek.skill, at 
the lower entrance to the Highlands, and securing the vantage-ground at North 
Castle,' Washington cro.ssed the Hudson [Nov. 12] with the main body of his 
armj, and joined General Greene at Fort Lee, on the Jersey shore, about two 
miles south of Fort Washington. This movement was made on account of an 
apparent preparation by the British to invade Ncav Jersey and march upon 
Philadelphia, where the Congress was in session.^ 

General Knyphausan and a large body of Hessians* had arrived at New- 
York, and joined the British army at Westchester, previous to the engagement 
at White Plains. After Washington had crossed the Hudson, these German 
troops and a part of the English army, five thousand strong, proceeded to attack 
Fort Washington. They were successful, but at a cost to the victors of full one 
thousand brave men.^ jNIore than two thousand xVmericans were made prison- 
ers of war [Nov. 16], and like their fellow-captives on Long Island,' they were 
crowded into loathsome prisons and prison-ships.' Two days afterward [Nov. 
18], Lord Cornwallis, with six thousand men, crossed the Hudson at Dobbs' 
Ferry, and too': possession of Fort Lee, which the Americans had abandoned 
on his approach, leaving all the baggage and military stores behind them. 
During tlie siege. General Washington, with Putnam, Greene, and JMercer, 
ascended the heights, and from the abandoned mansion of Roger Morris,^ sur- 
veyed the scene of operations. Within fifteen minutes after they had left that 
mansion, Colonel Stirling, of the British army, who had just repulsed an 

* The combatants lost about an equal numl^er of men — not more than three hundred each in 
killed, wounded, and prisoners. 

* General Heath was left in command in the Highlands, and General Lee at North Castle. 
' Page 250. That body afterward adjourned to Baltimore, in Marvland. See page 2G2. 

* Page 246. 

^ The loss of the Americans, in killed and wounded, did not exceed one hundred. 

« Page 254. 

' Xotliing could exceed the horrors of these 
crowded prisons, as described by an eye-witness. 
The sugar-houses of New York lacing large, were 
used for the purpose, and therein scores sufiercd and 
died. But the most terrible scenes occurred on 
board several old hulks, which were anchored in the 
waters around New York, and used for prisoners. Of 
them the J^rsi^y was the most notorious for the suf- 
ferings it contained, and the I'rutality of its officers. 
Froai these vessels, anchored near the present Navy tue jerskv piiisox-ship. 

Yard, at Brooklyn, almost eleven thousand victims 

were carried ashore during the war, and Ijuried in shallow graves in the sand. Their remains v;ero 
gathered in 1803, and put in a vault situated near the termination of Front-street and Hudson- 
avenue, Brooklyn. See Onderdonk s Revolutionary Innidi-jits of Long Inland. Lossing's Fitld Book, 
supplement. 

° That mansion, elegant even now [1856]. is standing on the high bank of the Harlem River, 
at One Hundred and Sixty-ninth-strcet. Roger Morris was Washington's companion-in-arms 
on the field where Braddock was defeated, and he had married Mary Phillipse, a yotmg lady 
whose charms had captivated the heart of Washington when he was a young Virginia colonel. It 
is now the property of Madame Jumel, widow of Aaron Burr, who was Vice-President of the United 
States, under Jefferson. 




2(50 THE REVOLUTION. [1776. 

American party, came with his victorious troops, and took possession of it. It 
was a narrow escape for those chief commanders. 

A melancholy and a brilliant chapter in the history of the war for Inde- 
pendence was now opened. For three weeks Washington, with his shattered 
and daily diminishing army, Avas flying before an overwhelming force of Brit- 
ons. Scarcely three thousand troops now remained in the American army. 
Newark New Brunswick, Princeton, and Trenton, successively fell into the 
power of Cornwallis. So close Avere the British vanguards upon the rear of the 
Americans, sometimes, that each could hear the music of the other. Day after 
day, the militia left the army as their terms of enlistment expired, for late 
reverses had sadly dispirited them, and many of the regulars" deserted. Loyalists 
were swarming all over the country through which they passed," and when, on 
the 7th of December, Washington reached the frozen banks of the Delaware, at 
Trenton, he had less than three thousand men, most of them wretchedly clad, 
half famished, and Avithout tents to shelter them from the biting Avinter air. 
On the 8th that remnant of an army crossed the Delaware in boats, just as one 
division of Cornwallis' s pursuing army marched into Trenton with all the pomp 
of victors, and sat down, almost in despair, upon the Pennsylvania shore. 

Washington had hoped to make a stand at Noav Brunswick, but was disap- 
pointed. The services of the Jersey and Maryland brigades expired on the day 
Avhen he left that place, and neither of them would remain any longer in the 
armv. During his flight, Washington had sent repeated messages to General 
Lee,^ urging him to leaA^e North Castle,* and reinforce him. That officer, am- 
bitious as he was impetuous and brave, hoping to strike a blow against the 
British that might give himself personal renoAvn, was so tardy in his obedience, 
that he did not enter New Jersey until the Americans had crossed the Dela- 
Avare. He had repeatedly, but in vain, importuned General Heath, Avho was 
left in command at Peekskill, to let him have a detachment of one or tAvo thou- 
sand men, with which to operate. His tardiness in obedience, cost him his 
liberty. Soon after entering New Jersey, he was made a prisoner [December 



' Note 6, page 185. 

^ General Howe had sent out proclamations through the country, Oacring pardon and protection 
to all who might ask for mercy. Perceiving the disasters to the American arms during the summer 
and autunm, great numbers took advantage of tliese promises, and signed petitions. They soon 
found that protection did not follow jiardon, for the Hessian troops, in their march through New 
Jersey, committed great excesses, without inquiring whether tlieir victims were Whigs or Tories. 
Note 4, page 226. Among the prominent men who espoused the republican cause, and now aban- 
doned it, was Tucker, president of the New Jersey Convention, which had sanctioned the Declara- 
tion of Independence, and Joseph Galloway, a member of the first Continental Congress. These, 
and other prominent recusants, received some liard hits in the public prints. A writer in the Penn- 
sylvania Journal, of February 5, 1777, thus castigated Galloway: 

"flair way has fled, and join'd the venal Howe, 
To prove his baseness, see him cringe and bo (7 ; 
A traitor to his country and its laws, 
A friend to tyrants and their cursed cause. 
Unhappy wretch ! thy interest must bo sold 
For Continental, not for polish' d gold. 
To sink tlie money thou thyself cried down, 
And stabb'd thy country to support the crown." 

' Note 4, page 185. ■* Page 1'>'.). 



177G.] SECOND YEAR OF THE WAR POR INDEPENDENCE. 261 

13, 1776], ami his command devolved upon General Sullivan/ At about the 
same time intelligence reached the chief that a British sc^uadron, under Sir 
Peter Parker (who, as we have seen [page 247 J, was defeated at Charleston), 
had sailed into Narraganset Bay [December 8th], taken possession of Rhode 
Island, and blockaded the little American fleet, under Commodore Hopkins," 
then lying near Providence. This intelligence, and a knowledge of the failure 
of operations on Lake Champlain,^ coupled with the sad condition of the main 
army of patriots, made the future appear gloomy indeed/ 

It was fortunate for the patriot cause that General Howe was excessively 
cautious and indolent. Instead of allowing Cornwallis to construct boats,' cross 
the Delaware at once, overwhelm the patriots, and push on to Philadelphia, as 
he might have done, he ordered him to await the freezing of the waters, so as 
to cross on the ice. He was also directed to place four thousand German troops 
in cantonments along the Jersey shore of the river, from Trenton to Burling- 
ton, and to occupy Princeton and New Brunswick with strong British detach- 
ments. Both Congress and Washington profited by this delay. Pleasures for 
re-organizing the army, already planned, were put in operation. A loan of five 
millions of dollars, in hard money, with which to pay the troops, was author- 
ized. By the offer of liberal bounties, ° and the influence of a stirring appeal 
put forth by Congress, recruits immediately flocked to Washington's standard 
at NewtoAvn.' Almost simultaneously, Lee's detachment under Sullivan, and 
another from Ticonderoga,® joined him ; and on the 24th of December he found 
himself in command of almost five thousand effective troops, many of them fresh 
and hopeful.'' And the increased pay of officers, the proffered bounties to the 

' Both Sullivan and Stirling, who were made prisoners on Long Island [page 254], had been 
exchanged, and were now again with the army. Lee was captured at Baskingridge, where Lord 
Stirling resided, and remained a prisoner until May, 1778, when he was exchanged for General 
Prescott, who was captured on Rhode Island. See page 271. ^ Note 1, page 307. 

* General Gates was appointed to the command of the army at the north, after the death of 
General Thomas [note 2, page 243] ; and during the summer and autumn of 1776, Colonel Arnold 
became a sort of commodore, and commanded flotillas of small vessels in warfare with others pre- 
pared by General Carleton (the British commander in Canada), on Lake Champlain. He had two 
severe engagements (11th and 13th of October), in which he lost about ninety men; the British 
about forty. These operations were disastrous, yet they resulted in preventmg the British forces in 
Canada uniting with those in New York, and were thus of vast importance. 

* Although the Americans had generally suftered defeats, they had been quite successful in 
making captives. The number of Americans taken by the British, up to the close of 1T7G, was 
four thousand, eight hundred and fifty-four; the number of British taken by the Americans, was 
two thousand, eight hundred and sixty. In addition to men, the Americans had lost twelve brass 
cannons and mortars, and two hundred and thirty-five made of iron ; twenty-three thousand, nine 
hundred and seventy-nine empty shells, and seventeen thousand, one hundred and twenty-two 
filled ; two thousand six hundred and eighty-four double-headed shot : a large quantity of grape- 
shot; two thousand ciglit hundred muskets: four hundred thousand cartridges ; sixteen barrels of 
powder ; five hundred intrenching tools ; two hundred barrows and other instruments, and a large 
quantity of provisions and stores. 

^ The Americans took every boat they could find at Trenton, and cautiously moved them out 
of the river after they had crossed. 

® Each soldier was to have a bounty of twenty dollars, besides an allotment of land at the close 
of the war. A common soldier was to have one hundred acres, and a colonel five hundred. These 
were given to those only who enlisted to sen-e " during the war." 

' A small village north of Bristol, about two miles from the Delaware. * Page 234. 

" According to the adjutant's return to Washington on tlie 22d of December, the American 
army numbered ten thousand one hundred and six nien, of whom five thousand three hundred and 
ninety-nine were sick, on command elsewhere, or on furlough, leaving an effective force of four 
thousand seven hundred and seven. 



2(32 THE REVOLUTION". [1'776. 

soldiers, and the great personal influence of the commander-in-chief, had the 
elfect to retain in the service, for a few weeks at least, more than one half of the 
old soldiers. 

There were ahout fifteen hundred Hessians.' and a troop of British light 
horse at Trenton, and tliese Washington determined to surprise. The British 
commanders looked with such contempt upon the American troops — the mere 
ghost of an army — and were so certain of an easy victor j bejond the Delaware, 
where, rumor affirmed, the people were almost unanimous in favor of the 
kin*^, that vio-ilance was neglected. So confident were they that the contest 
would be ended by taking possession of Philadelphia, that Cornwaliis actually 
returned to New Yoi'k, to prepare to sail for England ! And when Rail, the 
commander of the Hessians at Trenton, applied to General Grant for a rein- 
forcement, that officer said to the messenger, ' ' Tell the colonel he is very safe. 
I will undertake to keep the peace in New Jersey, with a corporal's guard." 
How they mistook the character of Washington ! During all the gloom of the 
past month, hope had beamed brightly upon the heart of the commander-in- 
chief Although Congress had adjourned to Baltimore" [December 12, 177G], 
and the public mind was filled with despondency, his reliance upon Providence 
in a cause so just, Avas never shaken ; and his great soul conceived, and his 
ready hand planned a bold stroke for deliverance. The Christmas holiday was 
at hand — a day when Germans, especially, indulge in convivial pleasures. Not 
doubting the Hessians would pass the day in sports and drinking, he resolved 
to profit by their condition, by falling suddenly upon them while they were in 
deep slumber after a day and night of carousal. His plan was to cross the 
Delaware in three divisions, one a few miles above Trenton, another a few miles 
below, and a third at Bristol to attack Count Donop" at Burlington. Small 
parties were also to attack the British posts at ISIount Holly, Black Horse, and 
Bordentown, at the same time. 

On the evening of Christmas day [1776], Washington gathered twenty- 
four hundred men, with some heavy artillery, at McConkey's Ferry, 
eight or nine miles above Trenton.^ They expected to cross, reach Trenton 
at midnight, and take the Hessians by surprise. But the river was filled 
with floating ice, and sleet and snow were fill ling fiist. The passage was 
made in flat-boats ; and so difficult was the navigation, that it was almost four 
o'clock in the morning [December 26] when the troops were mustered on 
the Jersey shore. They were arranged in two divisions, commanded respec- 
tively by Greene and Sullivan, and approached Trenton by separate roads. 
The enterprise was eminently successful. Colonel Rail, the Hessian com- 
mander, was yet indulging in wine at the end of a night spent in card- 



' Page 246. 

- Alarmed at the approach of tlie British, Conorress thought it pru:lpnt to adjourn to Baltimore. 
A committee to represent that body was left in Philadelphia, toco-operate with the army. Congresa 
assembled at Baltimore on the 20th. ^ Page 275. 

^ TaylorsvUle is the name of the little village at that place. The river there, now spanned by 
a covered bridge, is about six hundred feet in width, and has a considerable current. 



1716.] SECOND YEAR OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 263 




BATTLE AT TRENTON. 



playing, Avhen the Americans approached, a little after sunrise;' and Avhile 
endeavoring to rally hi.s affrighted troops, he fell, mortally woundevi, in the 
streets of Trenton. Between forty and fifty of 
the Hessians were killed and fatally wounded, 
and more than a thousand were made prisoners, 
together with arms, ammunition, and stores. 
Five hundred British cavalry barely escaped, 
and fled to Bordentown. Generals Ewing and 
Cadwalader, who commanded the other two 
divisions, destined to attack the enemy below 
Trenton, were unable to cross the river on account of the ice, to co-operate with 
Washington. With a strong enemy so near as Burlington and Princeton, the com- 
mander-in-chief thought it imprudent to remain on the Jersey shore, so with hi.s 
prisoners and booty he re-crossed the Delaware on the evening after his victory. 

This was indeed a victory in more aspects than that of a skillful military 
operation. The Germans under Dunop, on the river below, thoroughly 
alarmed, fled into the interior. The Tories and pliant Whigs' were abashed ; 
the friends of liberty, rising from the depths of despondency, stood erect in the 
pride and strength of their principles ; the prestige of the Hessian name, lately 
so terrible, was broken, and the faltering militia, anxious for bounties and 
honors, flocked to the victorious standard of Washington. Fourteen hundred 
soldiers, chiefly of the eastern militia, Avhose terms of enlistment would expire 
with the year, agreed to remain six weeks longer, on a promise to each of a 
bounty of ten dollars. The military chest was not in a condition to permit him 
to fulfill his promise, and he wrote to Robert Morris, the eminent financier of 
the Revolution, for aid, and it was given. Fifty thousand dollars, in hard 
money, were sent to the banks of the Delaware, in time to allow Washington 
to fulfill his engagement.^ 

The victory was also productive of more vigilant efforts on the part of the 



' Rail spent the niglit nt the house of a loyalist, named Hunt. Just at dawn, a messenger, sent 
by a Tory on the Ihie of uiareli of tlie patriots, came in hot haste to the colonel. Excited by wine, 
aiid intent upon his game, that officer tlirust the note into his pocket. Like the Athenian ixilemarch, 
■who, when he received dispatches relative to a conspiracy, refused to open them, saying. "Busi- 
ness to-morrovv," Rail did not look at the message, but continued his amusement until the roll of 
the American drum, and tlio crack of liis rifle, fell upon his dull ears, and called him to duty. 

"" Note 4, page 22G. 

' Then it was tliat Robert Morris not only evinced his foith in the success of the patriot cause, 
and his own love of country, but ho tested the strength of his credit and mercantile honor. The 
sum was large, and the requirement seemed almost impossible to meet. Government credit was 
low, but confidence in Robert Morris was unbounded. On leaving his oflice, musing upon how he 
should obtain the money, ho met a wealtliy Quaker, and said, " I want money for the use of the 
army." "Robert, what security canst thou give?" asked the Quaker. "My note and my honor," 
promptly replied Morns. "Thou shalt have it," as promptly responded the lender, who oflered him 
a considerable sum, and the next morning it was on its way to the camp of "Washington. Robert 
Morris was a native of ICngland, wlicre he was born in 17133. He came to America in 1744, and 
became a merchant's clerk in Pliiladelpliia. By tlie f irce of industry, energ}', and a good character, 
he arose to the station of one of the lir.-Jt merchants of his time. He was a signer of the Declaration 
of Independence, and was active as a public financier, throughout the war. Toward its close 
[1781], lie was instrumental in establishing a national bank. After the war, he was a state legis- 
lator, and Wa.shington wished him to be his first Secretary of the Treasuiy, but he declined it. By 
land speculations lie lost his fortune, and died in comparative poverty, in May, 1806, when a little 
more than seventy years of age. Sec his portrait on next page. 



264 



THE REVOLUTION. 



[1776. 



invaders. Believing the rebellion to be at an end, and the American army 
hopelessly annihilated, when Washington, with his shivering, half-starved 
troops, fled across the Delaware, Cornwallis, as we have observed, had returned 
to New York to embark for England. The contempt of the British for the 




" rebels," was changed to respect and fear, and when intelligence of the affiur 
at Trenton reached Howe, he ordered Cornwallis back with reinforcements, to 
gain the advantage lost. Congress, in the mean while, perceiving the necessity 
of giving more power to the commander-in-chief, wisely clothed him [December 
27j with all the puissance of a military dictator, for six months, and gave him 
absolute control of all the operations of war, for that period.' This act was 
accomplished before that body could possibly have heard of the victory at Tren- 
ton, for they were then in session in Baltimore. 

Inspirited by his success at Trenton, the panic of the enemy, and their 
retirement from the Delaware, Washington determined to recross that river, 
and act on the offensive. He ordered General Heath, Avho was with quite a 



' When Congress adjourned on the 12tli, to meet at Baltimore, almost equal powers were given 
to Washington, but they were not then defined. Now they were so, by resolution. They wrote to 
Washington, when they forwarded the resolution, " Happy is it for this country, that the general 
of their forces can be safely intrusted with unlimited power, and neither personal security, liberty, 
nor property, be in the least degree endangered thereby." At that time, Congress had given Gen- 
eral Putnam almost unlimited command in Philadelphia. All nmnitions of war there, were placed 
under his control. He was also authorized to employ all private armed vessels in the Delaware, in 
the defense of Philadelphia. See note 1, page 246. 



1777.] THIRD TEAR OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 265 

large body of New England troops at Peokskill,' to move into New Jersey 
with his main force ; and the new militia levies were directed to annoy the flank 
and rear of the British detachments, and make frequent attacks upon their 
outposts. In the mean while, he again crossed the Delaware [December 30th]. 
with his whole army, and took post at Trenton, Avhile the British and German 
troops were concentrating at Princeton, only ten miles distant. Such Avas the 
position and the condition of the two armies at the close of the second year of 
the "War for Independence — the memorable year when this great Republic of 
the West was born. 



CHAPTER IV. 

THIRD TEAR OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. [1777.] 

The strange apathy of nations, like individuals, in times of great danger, or 
when dearest interests depend upon the utmost vigilance and care, is a remark- 
able phase in human character, and the records thereof appear as monstrous 
anomalies upon the pages of history. Such was the case with the executive 
and legislative power of the British nation during the momentous year of 1776, 
when the eye of ordinary forecast could not fail to perceive that the integrity 
of the realm was in imminent danger, and that the American colonies, the fair- 
est jewels in the British crown, were likely to be lost forever. Such an apathy, 
strange and profound, seemed to i^ervade the councils of the British Govern- 
ment, even while the public mind of England was filled with the subject of the 
American rebellion. Notwithstanding an army had been driven from one city'^ 
[March, 1776], a fleet expelled from another^ [June], their colonies declared 
independent' [July 4], and almost thirty thousand of their choice troops and 
fierce hirelings had been defied and combatted^ [August], Parliament did not 
assemble until the last day of October, to deliberate on these important mat- 
ters. Then the king, in his speech, congratulated them upon the success of the 
royal troops in America, and assured them (but without the shadow of good 
reason for the belief) that most of the continental powers entertained friendly 
feelings toward Great Britain. During a dull session of six weeks, new sup- 
plies for the American service were voted, while every conciliatory pro})Osition 
was rejected ; and when Parliament adjourned, in December, to keep the 
Christmas holidays, the members appeared to feel that their votes had crushed 
the rebellion, and that, on their re-assembling in January, they would be in- 
vited to join in a Te Deiiwb at St. Paul's, because of submission and peace in 

' On the east bank of the Hudson, at the entrance to the Highlands, fortj'-five miles from tho 
city of New Tork. See page 270. 

' ^ Page 247. = Page 249. ■* Page 251. ^ Page 253. 

' The Tt Dmm Laudamus ( We praise thee, God) is always chanted in chnrclies in England, 
and on the continent, after a great victory, great deliverance, etc. There is something revolting in 




266 THE REVOLUTION. [1777. 

America. At that very moment, Washington was planning his brilliant 
achievement on the banks of the Delaware.' 

In contrast with this apathy of the British Government, was the vigilance 
and activity of the Continental Congress. Their perpetual session was one of 
perpetual labor. Early in the year [March, 1776], the 
Secret Committee of that body had appointed Silas Deane,^ 
a delegate from Connecticut, to proceed to France, as their 
agent, with general powers to solicit the co-operation of 
other governments. Even these remote colonists knew 
that the claims of the kiiig of England to the friendship 
of the continental powers, was fallacious, and that France, 
Spain, and Holland, the Prince of Orange, and even Cath- 
siL-is HE WE arine of Russia, and Pope Clement the Fourteenth (Gan- 

ganelli). all of whom feared and hated England, instead of being friendly to 
her were anxious for a pretense to strike her fiercely, and humble her pride, 
because of her potency in arms, her commerce, her diplomacy, and her strong 
Protestantism. All of these spoke kindly to the American agent, and Deane 
was successful in his embassy. He talked confidently, and by skillful manage- 
ment, durincf the summer of 1776, he obtained fifteen thousand muskets from 
the French arsenals, and abundant promises of men and money. And when the 
Declaration of Independence had been made [July 4], Congress api^ointed a reg- 
ular embassy' [Sept. 22, 1776], to the court of France, and finally sent agents 
to other foreign courts.^ They also planned, and fiaally executed measures for 
strengthening the bond of union between the several colonies, already made 
powerfully cohesive by common dangers and common hopes. Articles of Con- 
federation, which formed the organic laws of the nation until the adoption of 



this to the true Christian mind and heart. War, except strictly defensive as a last extremity, is 
alwavs a monstrous injustice ; and for its success in soddcning God's fair earth witli human blood, 
men iu epaulettes, their hands literally dripping with gore, will go into the temple dedicated to the 
rrinco of Peace, and there sing a Te Deum! ' Page 261. 

* Silas Deane was born at Groton, in Connecticut, and was educated at Yale College. He was 
elected to the first Congress [page 228] in 1774, and after lieiug some time abroad, as agent for the 
Secret Committee, he was recalled, on accoiint of alleged Ijad conduct. He published a defense of 
his character in 1778, but he failed to reinstate himself in the pviblic opinion. He went to England 
toward the close of 1784, where he died in extreme poverty, in 1789. 

^ The embassy consisted of Dr. Franklin, Silas Deane, and Arthur Lee. Franklin and Lee 
joined Deane at Paris, at the middle of December, 1776. Lee had then been in Europe for some 
time, as a sort of private agent of the Secret Committee. He made an arrangement with the French 
king to send a large amount of arms, ammunition, and specie, to the colonists, but in such a way 
that it would appear as a connnercial transaction. The agent on the part of the French was 
Eeaumarchais, who assumed the conmiercial title of Roderique Hortaks & Co., and Lee took the 
name of Mary Johnson. This arrangement with the false and avaricious Eeaumarchais, was a source 
of great annoyance and actual loss to Congress in after years. What was a gratuity on the part of 
the French government, in the name of Hortales & Co., Eeaumarchais afterward presented a claim 
for, and actually received from Congress four hundred thousand dollar.s. Eenjamin Franklin was 
born in Boston, in 1706. He was a printer; worked at his trade in London ; became eminent in 
his bu>iness in Philadelphia; obtained a high position as a philosopher and statesman ; was agent 
in England for several colonies ; was chief embassador for the Tnited States in Europe during the 
Revolution, and filled various official stations in the scientific and political world. He was one of 
the most remarkalile men thiit ever lived; and, next to Washington, is the best known and most 
revered of all Americans. He died in 1790, at the age of more than eighty-four years. Arthur 
Lee was a brother of Richard Henry Lee [page 2.50], and was born in Virginia, in 1740. He was 
a fine scholar, and elegant writer. He died in 1782. * Holland, Spain, and Prussia. 



1777.] 



THIRD YEAR OF THE WAR FOR I N P E P EN D E NC E. 



267 



the Federal Constitution, were, after more than two years' consideration, ap- 
proved by Congress, and produced vastly beneficial results during the remain- 



der of the struggle.' 




Such, in brief, were the chief operations of the civil power of the revolted 
colonies. Let us now turn to the military operations at the opening of a new 



' In July, 1775, Dr. Franklin submitted a plan of union to Congress. On the 11th of June, 
1776, a committee was appointed to draw up a plan. Their report was laid aside, and not called up 
until April, 1777. From that time until the 1.5th of November following, the subject was debated 
two or three times a week, when thirteen Artides of Confederation were adopted. The substance 
was that the thirteen confederated States should be known as the (Idited States of America: that all 
engage in a reciprocal treaty of alliance and friendship, for mutual advantage, each to assist the 
otl'ior when help should be needed ; that each State sliould have the right to regulate its own in- 
ternal affairs ; that no State should separately send or receive embassies, begin any negotiations, 
contract engagements or alliances, or conclude treaties with any foreign power, without tlie consent 
of the general Congress ; that no public officer should be allowed to accept any presents, emolu- 
mcuts, ollice, or title, from any foreign power, and that neither Congress nor State governments 
should possess the power to confer any title of nobility; that none of the States should have tiic 
right to form alliances among themselves, without the consent of Congress ; that tliey should not 
have tile ijower to levy duties contrary to the enactments of Congress; that no State should keep 
up a stmdiug army or ships of war, in lime of peace, beyond the amount stipulated by Congress; 
that when any of the States should raise troops for the common def.ms-, all X\\i officers of the rank 
of colonel and under, should be appointed by the legislature of the State, and the superior officers by 
Congress ; that all expenses of the war should be paid out of the public treasury ; that Congress 
alone should have the [jower to coin monev ; and that Canada might at any time be admitted into 
the confederacy when she felt disposed. The last clauses w(>rc explanatory of the power of certain 
governin'Mital operations, and contained details of tlie same. Such was the form of government 
which existed as the basis of our Republic, for almost twelve years. See Supplement. 



268 THE REVOLUTION. [1777. 

year. Congress, we have observed,' delegated all military power to Washing- 
ton, and he used it with energy and discretion. We left him at Trenton, pre- 
pared to act offensively or defensively, as circumstances should require. There 
he was joined by some troops under Generals MifHin and Cadwalader, who 
came from Bordentown and Crosswicks, on the night of the 1st of January. 
Yet with these, his effective force did not exceed five thousand men. Toward 
the evening of the 2d of Januaiy, 1777, Cornwallis, with a strong force, ap- 
proached from Princeton, and after some skirmishing, the two armies encamped 
on either side of a small stream which runs through the town, within pistol- 
shot of each other. Washington commenced intrenching his camp, and Corn- 
wallis, expecting reinforcements in the morning, felt sure of his prey, and 
deferred an attack for the night. 

The situation of Washington and his little army was now perilous in the 
extreme. A conflict with such an overwhelming force as Avas gathering, 
a})peared hopeless, and the Delaware becoming more obstructed by ice every 
hour, rendered a retreat across it, in the event of a surprise, almost impossible. 
A retreat down the stream was equaHy perilous. An escape under cover of the 
night, was the only chance of safety, but the ground was too soft to allow the 
patriots to drag their heavy cannons Avith them ; and could they withdraw unol)- 
served by the British sentinels, whose hourly cry could be heard from the 
camp ? This was a question of deep moment, and there was no time for long 
deliberation. A higher will than man's determined the matter. The Protector 
of the righteous put forth his hand. While a council of war was in session, 
toward midni<<;ht, the wind chansred, and the ground was soon so hard frozen, 
that there could be no difficulty in conveying away the cannons. Instantly all 
was in activity in the American camp, while Cornwallis and his army Avere 
soundly sleeping — perhaps dreaming of the expected sure victory in the morn- 
ing. Leaving a few to keep watch and feed the camp-fires, to allay suspicion, 
Washington silently Avithdrew. Avith all his army, artillery, and baggage ; and 
at daAvn [January 3, 1777], hoAvas in sight of Princeton, prepared to fall upon 
CoruAvallis's rescrA^e there ' The British general had scarcely recovered from 
his surprise and mortification, on seeing the deserted camp of the Americans, 
Avhen the distant booming of cannons, borne upon the keen Avinter air. fell 
ominously upon his ears. Although it Avas mid-Avinter, he thought it Avas the 
rumbling of distant thunder. The quick ear of General Erskine decided other- 
Avise, and he exclaimed, "To arms, general! Washington has out-generaled 
us. Let us fly to tlie rescue at Princeton!" Erskine Avas right, for, at that 
moment, Washington and the British reserA^e Avere combating. 

OAving to the extreme roughness of the roads, Washington did not reach 
Princeton as early as he expected, and instead of surprising the British, and 
then pushing forward to capture or destroy the enemy's stores at New Bruns- 
wick, he found a portion of the troops already on their march to join Corn- 

' Pa2;e 264. 

"^ A brigade, under Lieutenant-colonel Mawliood, consisting of three regiments and three troops 
of dragoons, were quartered there. 



1777.] 



THIRD YEAR OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 



269 




BATTLE AT PRINCETON'. 



wallis at Trenton. A severe encounter occurred, when the American militia 
giving way, the British, with a victorious shout, rushed forward, expecting to 

produce a general rout. At that moment Washington 

advanced with a select corps, brought order out of con- 
fusion, and leading on his troops Avith waving sword and 
cheering voice, turned the tide of battle and achieved a 
victory. The brave General Mercer,' while fighting at 
the head of his men, was killed, and many other be- 
loved officers were lost on that snowy battle-field." Nor 
was the conflict of that morning yet ended. When Corn- 
wallis perceived the desertion of the American camp, 
and heard the firing at Princeton, he hastened Avith a 
greater portion of his troops, to the aid of his reserve, 
and to secure his stores at New Brunswick. The Ameri- 
cans, who had not slept, nor scarcely tasted food for 
thirty-six hours, were compelled, just as the heat of the first battle was over, to 
contest with fresh troops, or fly with the speed of strong men. Washington 
chose the latter alternative, and when Cornwallis entered Princeton, not a 
'"rebel" was to be found.' History has no parallel to offer to these events of 
a few days. Frederic the Great of Prussia, one of the most renowned com- 
manders of modern times, declared that the achievements of Washington and 
his little band of compatriots, between the 25th of December and the 4th of 
January following, were the most brilliant of any recorded in the annals of 
military performances. 

The Americans were too weak to attempt the capture of the British stores 
at NeAV Brunswick, so, with his fatigued troops Washington retreated rapidly 
toward the hill country of East Jersey. < Allowing time only to refresh his 
little army at Pluckemin, he pressed forward to Morristown, and there estab- 
lished his winter quarters. But he did not sit down in idleness. After plant- 
ing small cantonments^ at different points from Princeton to the Hudson 
Highlands, he sent out detachments to harass the thoroughly perplexed British. 
These expeditions were conducted with so much skill and spirit, that on the fii-st 



' Mercer's horse had been shot under him, and he was on foot at the head of his men, wlien a 
British soldier felled him with a clubl^ed musket [note 4, page 236]. At first, the British believed 
it to be Wasliino;ton, and, with a shout, tliey cried, " The rebel general is taken." Hugli Mercer 
was a native of Scotland. He was a surgeon on the field of Culloden, and was practicing medicine 
in Fredericksburg, Virginia, when tlie Revolution broke out. He was with Washington in tlie 
French and Indian War. He was made commander of the flying camp in 1776, and at the time of 
Ins death was about fifty-six years of age. The picture of a house in the corner of the map of tlie 
battle at Princeton, is a representation of the house in which General Mercer died. It is yet [1856] 
standing. 

* Tiio chief of these wore Colonels Haslett and Potter, ilajor Morris, and Captains Shippen, 
Fleming and Neal. The loss of the Americans in this engagement, was about thirty, including the 
officers above named. 

* We have mentioned, on page 210, the planetarium, at Princeton, constructed by David Ritten- 
house. This excited the admiration of Cornwallis, and he intended to carry it away with him. Ir 
is also said that Silas Deane [page 264] proposed to present this work of art to the French govern- 
ment, as a bonus for its good will. Cornwallis was kept too busy in providing for his own safety, 
while in Princeton, to allow him to rob tlie college of so great a treasure. * Page 160. 

"* Permanent stations for small bodies of troops. 



270 THE REVOLUTION. [1777. 

of March, 1777, not a British nor a Hessian soldier could be found in 
New Jersey, except at New Brunswick and xVmboy.' Those dreaded bat- 
talions which, sixty days before, Avere all-powerful in New Jersey, and had 
frightened the Continental Congress from Philadelphia, were now hemmed in 
upon the llaritan, and able to act only on the defensive. Considering the 
attending circumstances, this was a great triumph for the Americans. It 
revived the martial spirit of the people, and the hopes of all good patriots : and 
hundreds in New Jersey, who had ])ecn deceived by Howe's proclamation, and 
had suffered Hessian brutality, openly espoused the Whig cause. Congress 
had returned to Philadelphia," and commenced its labors with renewed vigor. 

It was almost the first of June before the main body of the two armies com- 
menced the summer campaign. In the mean while, smaller detachments Avere 
in motion at various points. A strong armament was sent up the Hudson, in 
March, to destroy American stores at Peekskill, at the southern entrance to the 
Highlands. The Americans there, under the command of General McDougal, 
perceiving a defense of the property to be futile, set fire to the stores and 
retreated to the hills in tlie rear. The British returned to New York the same 
evening [March 23, 1777]. Almost a month afterward [April 13], Corn- 
wallis went up the Raritan from New Brunswick, to surprise the Americans 
under General Lincoln, at Boundbrook. The latter escaped, with difficulty, 
after losing about sixty men and a part of his baggage. Toward the close of 
April [April 25], Governor Tryon,' at the head of two thousand British and 
Tories, went up Long Island Sound, landed at Compo [April 26], between 
Norwalk and Fairfield, marched to Danbury, destroyed a large quantity of 
stores belonging to the Americans, burned the town, and cruelly treated the 
inhabitants. Perceiving the militia to be gathering in great numbers, he 
retreated rapidly the next morning, by way of Ridgefield. Near that village, 
he had some severe skirmishing with the militia under Generals Wooster, 
Arnold,' and Silliman. Wooster was killed,^ Arnold narrowly escaped, but 
Silliman, keeping the field, harassed the British all the way to the coast. At 
Compo, and while embarking, they were terribly galled by artillery under 
Lamb." Tryon lost almost three hundred men during this expedition, and 
killed or wounded about half that number of Americans. His atrocities on that 



^ The Americans went out in small companies, made sudden attacks upon pickets, out -posts, 
and foraging parties, and in this way frightened the detachments of the enemy and drove them in 
to the main body on the Raritan. At Springfield, a few miles from Elizabethtown. they 
attacked a party of Hessians who were penetrating the country from Elizabethport [.January 7, 
1777], killed between forty and fift}' of them, and drove the remainder in great confusion back to 
Staten Island. A larger foraging party was defeated near Somerset court house [January 20] by 
about five hundred Xew Jersey militia under General Dickinson ; and Newark, Elizabethtown and 
Woodbridge, were taken possession of by the patriots. ' Page 262. ^ Page 223. 

* Pao-o 234. For his gallantry at Ridgcfield, Congress ordered a horse, richly caparisoned, to 
be presented to him. 

^ David Wooster was born in Stratford, Connecticut, in 17 10. He was at Louisluirg in 1745 
[page 137], became a captain in the British army, and was in the French and Indian War. He was 
in Canada in the spring of 177 G [page 213], and gave promise of being one of tlie most efficient of 
the American officers in the war lor Independence. His loss, at such a critical period of tlio conflict, 
was miTch deplored. The State of Connecticut erected a monument to his memory, in 1854. 

° Paare 240. 



17T7.] TIIIRD YEAR OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 271 

occasion were never forgotten nor forgiven. The name of Trjon will ever be 
held in detestation bj all lovers of justice and humanity. He had already, 
while governor of North Carolina, been named by the Indians, The Great 
WoJ\ and in his marauding expeditions during the earlier years of the Avar 
for Independence, his conduct confirmed the judgmcut of the lied Men. We 
shall meet him again. 

The Americans did not always act upon the defensive : they were some- 
times the aggressors. Toward the close of May [May 22, 1777J, Colonel 
Meigs, with one hundred and seventy men, crossed Long Island Sound in Avhale- 
boats, from Guilford, Connecticut, and at two o'clock in the morning of the 23d 
of that month, attacked a British provision post at Sagg Harbor, near the 
eastern extremity of Long Island. They burned a dozen vessels, and the store- 
houses and contents, secured ninety prisoners, and reached Guilford at two 
o'clock the next day, without losing a man of their own party. For this exploit, 
Congress voted thanks to Colonel Meigs and his men, and a sword to the com- 
mander. A little later in the season, an ecjually bold exploit was performed 
on Rhode Island. On a dark night in July [July 10], Colonel William Bar- 
ton, with a company of picked men, crossed Narraganset Bay in whale-boats, 
in the midst of the British fleet, stole cautiously to the quarters of General 
Prescott,' the British commander on Rhode Island, seized him while in bed, 
and carried him in triumph across the bay to Warwick. There a carriage was 
in waiting for him, and at sunrise ho was under a strong guard at Providence. 
From thence he Avas sent to the headquarters of Washington, at Middlebrook, 
on the Raritan,^ and was exchanged, in April, the next year, for General 
Charles Lee.^ For Colonel Barton's bravery, on that occasion. Congress voted 
him an elegant sword, and he was promoted to the rank and pay of a colonel 
in the continental army. 

The American commander-in-chief continued his head quarters at Morris- 
town until near the last of May. During the spring he had inocalated a large 
portion of his troops for the small-pox ;' and when the leaves put forth, a fair 
degree of health prevailed in his camp, and his army had increased by recruits, 
to almost ten thousand men. He Avas prepared for action, offensiA'e and defens- 
ive ; but the movements of the British perplexed him. Burgoyne Avas assem- 
bling an army at St. John, on the Sorel,* and vicinity, preparatory to an 
invasion of Ncav York, by way of Lake Champlain, to achieA^e that darling 
object of the British ministry, the occupation of the country on the Hudson." 



' Page 240. Prescott's quarters were at a house yet [1S5G] .standing, a short distance above 
Newport, and about a mile from the bay. 

' While on his way, his escort stopped at Lebanon, Connecticut, to dine. Prescott was a 
morose, haughty, and violent-tt'mpered man. At tlie table, a dish of suecota.sh (beans and corn) 
was brought to him. Not being accustomed to such food, he regarded it as an insult, and taking 
the di.sh from the hands of the liostess, lie strewed its contents upon the floor. Iler husband being 
informed of it, flogged the general severely, with a horse wliip. 

^ Note 4, page 248 ; also page 288. 

* The common practice of vaccination at the present day was f lien unknown in this country. 
Indeed, the attention of Jenner, tlie father of the practice, had then just been turned to the subject. 
It was practiced here a year after the close of the war. ' Page 240. " Page 283. 



272 THE REVOLUTION. [1777. 

But whether Howe was preparing to co-operate with Burgoyne, or to make 
another attempt to seize Philadelphia/ Washington could not determine. He 
prepared for both events by stationing Arnold with a strong detachment on the 
west side of the Delaware, concentrating a large force on the Hudson, and 
moving the main body of his army to Middlebrook, within ten miles of the 
British camp at New Brunswick. 

Washino-ton was not kept in suspense a great wliile. On the 12th of June 
[1777J, Howe passed over from New York, where he made his head quarters 
durino- the winter, concentrated the main body of his army at New Brunswick, 
and tried to di*aw Washington into an engagement by a feigned movement [June 
14] toward the Delaware. The chief, perceiving the meaning of this movement, 
and aAvare of his comparative strength, wisely remained in his strong position 
at ]\Iiddlcbrook until Howe suddenly retreated [June 19], sent some of his 
troops over to Staten Island [June 22], and appeared to be evacuating New 
Jersey. This movement perplexed Washington. He was fairly deceived ; and 
ordering strong detachments in pursuit, he advanced several miles in the same 
direction, with his whole army. Howe suddenly changed front [June 25], and 
attempted to gain the rear of the Americans ; but, after Stirling's brigade had 
maintained a severe skirmish with a corps under Cornwallis [June 26], the 
Americans regained their camp without much loss. Five days afterward [June 
30], the Avhole British army crossed over to Staten Island, and left New Jersey 
in the complete possession of the patriots. 

Washington now watched the movements of his enemy watli great anxiety 
and the utmost vigilance. It was evident that some bold stroke was about to be 
attempted by the British. On the 12th of July, Burgoyne, who had been 
moving steadily up Lake Champlain, wath a powerful army, consisting of about 
seven thousand British and German troops, and a large body of Canadians and 
Indians, took possession of Crown Point and Ticonderoga," and spread terror 
over the whole North. At the same time the British fleet at New York took 
such a position as induced the belief that it was about to pass up the Hudson 
and co-operate with the victorious invader. Finally, Howe left General Clinton 
in command at New York, and embarking on board the fleet with eighteen 
thous:ind troops [July 23], he sailed for the Dclaw^are. When Washington 
comprehended this movement, he left a strong force on the Hudson, and with 
the main body of his troops pushed forward to Philadelphia. There he was 
saluted by a powerful ally, in the person of a stripling, less than twenty years 
of ao-e. He was a wealthy French nobleman, who, several months before, while 
at a dinner with the Duke of Gloucester,^ first heard of the struggle of the 
Americans, their Declaration of Independence, and the preparations made to 
crush them. His young soul was fired with aspirations to give them his aid : 
and quitting the army, he hurried to Paris. Although he had just married 
a young and beautiful girl, and a bright career was opened for him in his own 

' Pjige 261. - Pa.sje 234. 

^ The duke was the brother of the king of England, and at the time in question, was dining with 
Eome French officers, in the old town of Mentz, in Germany. 



1777.] 



Til I IIP YEAR OF THE WAR FOR INDETENDEXCE. 



country, he left all, and hastened to America in a vessel fitted out at his 

own expense. He offered his services to the Continental 

Congress, and that body gave him the commission [July 

31] of a major-general. Three days afterward [Aug. 3J 

he was introduced to Washington at a public dinner ; and 

within less than forty days he was gallantly fighting 

[September 11], as a volunteer, for freedom in xVmerica, 

on the banks of the Brandy wine. That young general was 

the INIarquis de La Fayette,' whose name is forever 

linked with that of Washington and Lilierty. 

The British fleet, with the army under Sir William Howe,* did not go up 
the Delaware, as was anticipated, but ascended Chesapeake Bay, and at its 
head, near the village of Elkton, in ISIaryland, the land forces disembarked 
[Aug. 25], and marched toward Philadelphia. Washington had advanced be- 
yond the Brandywine Creek, and took post a few miles from Wilmington. 
Howes superior force compelled him to fall back to the east side of the Brandy- 

and at Chad's Ford, several 




GEXERAL LA FAYETTE. 



wme 

miles above Wilmington, he made 
a stand for the defense of Phila- 
delphia. At that point, the Hes- 
ians under Knyphauscu' attacked 
the left wing of the Americans 
[Sept. 11, 1777], commanded by 
Washington in person ; while Howe 
and Cornwallis, crossing the stream 
several miles above, fell upon the 
American right, under General 
Sullivan, near the Birmingham 
meeting-house.* The contest raged 
fearfully during the whole day. 
At night the shattered and defeated battalions of patriots retreated to 
Chester, and the following day [Sept. 12] to Philadelphia. Many brave men 
were killed or disabled on that sanguinary field. La Fayette was sev^erely 
wounded ;" and the patriots lost full twelve hundred men, killed, wounded, and 




BATTLE AT THE BRANDYWINE. 



' He was born on the 6th of September, 1757. He married tho dan,a:htor of the Duke do 
Noailles, a beautiful heiress, at tlie age of eighteen years. Ho first landed on the coast of South 
Carolina, in Winyaw Bay, near Georgetown, and made a laud journey to Philadelphia. His appli- 
cation was not received at first, by the Continental Congress ; but when his true character and 
designs were known, they gave hun a major-general's commission. He was afterward an active 
patriot in his own country in many perilous scenes. He visited America in 1824—5 [page 453], 
and died in 1834, at tho age of seventy-seven years. The Baron de Kalb [page 316] and eleven 
other French and Polish officers, came to America in La Fayette's vessel. 

° After the battle near Brooklyn [page 254], tlie king conferred the honor of knighthood upon 
General "William Howe, the commander-in-chief of the British forces in America. The ceremony 
was performed by several of his officers, at his quarters in tho Beekman House, Turtle Bay, East 
River. ^ Page 259. 

* This was (and is yet) a Quaker meeting-house, situated a few miles from Chad's Ford, on the 
road from Jefferis's Ford (where Howe and Cornwallis crossed) to Wilmington. 

' A bullet passed through his leg. He was conveyed to Bethlehem, in Pennsylvania, where 

18 



274 THE REVOLUTION. [1111. 

made prisoners. The British lost almost eight hundred. Washington failed 
of success more on account of false intelligence, by which he was kept in igno- 
rance of the approach of the British on his left, than by want of skill or force.' 

AVashingtou did not remain idle in the Federal capital, but as soon as the 
troops were rested, he crossed the Schuylkill, and proceeded to confront Howe, 
who was making slow marches toward Philadelphia. They met [Sept. 16] 
twenty miles Avest of that city, and some skirmishing ensued ; but a heavy rain 
prevented a general battle, and the Americans withdrew toward Reading. 
General Wayne, in the mean while, Avas hanging upon the rear of the enemy 
Avith a1)out fifteen hundred men. On the night of the 20th, he was surprised 
by a party of British and Hessians, under General Grey, near the Paoli Tav- 
ern, and lust about three hundred of his party.^ With the remainder he joined 
Washington, then near Valley Forge, and vigilantly Avatching the movements 
of HoAve. As these indicated the intention of the British commander to attempt 
the seizure of a large quantity of ammunition and military stores Avhich the 
Americans had collected at Reading, Washington abandoned Philadelphia, and 
took position at Pottsgrove, thirty-five miles distant, to protect those indispens- 
able materials for his army. HoAve crossed the Schuylkill [Sept. 23, 1777], 
near NorristoAAU, and marched to the Federal city^ [Sept. 26], without oppo- 
sition. Congress fled at his approach, first to Lancaster [Sept. 27], and then to 
York, Avhere it assembled on the 30th, and continued its session until the fol- 
loAving summer. The main body of the British army was encamped at Ger- 
mantown, four miles from Philadelphia, and Howe prepared to make the latter 
place his wniter quarters.^ 

Upon opposite sides of the DelaAvare, a fcAV miles beloAV Philadelphia, were 
two forts of considerable strength (Mifflin and Mercer), garrisoned by the 
Americans. While the British army Avas marching from the Chesapeake^ to 
Philadel})hia, the fleet had sailed around to the DeLiAvare, and had approached 
to the head of that bay. The forts commanded the river ; and chevaux-de- 
frise'^ just below them, completely obstructed it, so that the army in Philadel- 
phia could obtain no supplies from the fleet. The possession of these forts was 

the Moravian sisters nursed him during liis confinement. Count Pulaski began his military career 
in the American army, on the field of Brandywine, where he commanded a troop of horse, and 
after the battle he was appointed to the rank of Brigadier. He was slain at Savannah. See note 
3, page 350. 

' The Ijuilding seen in the corner of the map, is a view of the head quarters of Washington, yet 
[185G] standing, a short distance from Chad's Ford. 

" The bodies of fitty-three Americans, found on the field the next morning, were 

^ interred in one broad grave; and forty years afterward, the "' Eepnblican Artillerists" 

^ of Chester county, erected a neat marble monument over th.em. It stands in tho 

A, center of an inclosure which contains the ground consecrated by the burial of these 

patriots. 
— =^ ^ Philadelphia, New York, and Washington, have been, respectively, federal 

cities, or cities where the Federal Congress of the United States assembled. 
=i> * Note 2, page 285. ' Page 273. 

B ^ Chevaux-de-frise are obstructions placed in river channels to prevent the pass- 

age of vessels. Thej^ are generalh' made of a series of heavy timbers, pointed with 






T 5.^ *'!4^ ^^ V C.^OCia. -L lie V tilt; l^CllCLclllV llltlUl Wl ,1 :?C1 ICO Wl lietlV V lllllUei^, |JW111L.V1.1 WllilA 

Iron, and secured at an angle in a strong frame filled with stones, as seen in the 
"> oncrravino- FiiTiire A sliows the nosition inidor wntpr: ficrure B shows how the tim- 



cngraving. Figure A shows the position under water; figure B shows how the tim- 



*^'^kibe"'^' ''^'^'^ '"'® arranged and the stones placed in them. 



1777.] 



THIRD YEAR OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 



275 



important, and on the 22d of October, thej were attached by detachments sent 
bj Howe. Fort Mercer was assailed by two thousand Hessian grenadiers under 
Count Donop.' They were repulsed by the garrison of less than five hundred 
men, under Lieutenant-Colonel Christopher Greene, of Rhode Island, after los- 
ing their commander," and almost four hundred soldiers. The garrison of Fort 
MilBin, under Lieuienant-Colonel Samuel Smith, also made a gallant defense, 
but after a series of assaults by land and water, it was abandoned [Nov. 16, 
1777 j. Two days afterward, Fort Mercer was also abandoned, and several 
British ships sailed up to Philadelphia. ^ 

When Washington was informed of the weakened 
condition of the British army, by the detachment of 
these forces to attack the Delaware forts, he resolved 
to assail the camp at Germantown. He had moved 
down the Schuylkill to Skippack Creek [Sept. 25], 
and from that point he marched, silently, on the even- 
ing of the 3d of October [1777], toward the camp 
of the enemy. He reached Chestnut Hill, beyond 
Germantown, at dawn the following morning, and the 
attack soon commenced near there. After a severe 
battle, which continued almost three hours, the patriots were repulsed, with a 
loss, in killed, wounded, and prisoners, about equal to that at Brandj- wine. ' 
The British lost only about six hundred. On the 19th, Howe broke up his 
encampment at Germantown, and three weeks afterward, he proceeded to place 
his whole army in winter quarters in Philadelphia. Washington retired to 
his camp on Skippack Creek ; and on the 29th of November, he prepared to 
go into winter quarters at White Marsh, fourteen miles from Philadelphia. 

Let us now turn for a while from these scenes of conflict and disaster in 
which the beloved commander-in-chief was personally engaged, to the consider- 
ation of important events which were transpiring on the waters and banks of 
Lake Champlain and the Hudson River. Burgoyne, with more than ten 
thousand men, invested Ticonderoga on the 2d of July. The fortress was gar- 
risoned by General St. Clair, with only about three thousand men. Upon 




BATTLE AT GERIIANTOW.V. 



' Page 263. 

' Donop was terribly wounded, and taken to the house of a Quaker near by, where he expired 
three days afterward. He was buried within the fort. A few years ago his boiies were disinterred, 
and his skull was taken possession of by a New Jersey physician. 

' In the defense of these forts, the Americans lost about three hundred men, and the enemy 
almost double that number. 

* Washington felt certain of victory at the beginning of the battle. Just a.s it commenced, a 
dense fog overspread the country ; and through the inexperience of his troops, great confusion, in 
their movements, was produced. A false rumor caused a panic among the Americans, just as 
the British were about to fall back, and a general retreat and loss of victory was the result. In 
Ck'rmantown, a strong stone house is yet [1856] standing, whicli belonged to Judge Chew. This 
a part of the enemy occupied, and from the windows fired with deadly effect upon the Ameri- 
cans. No blame was attached to Washington for this defeat, when victory seemed easy and certain. 
On tlie contrar}-. Congress, on the receipt of Washington's letter, describing the battle, passed a vote 
ol thanks to liim for his " wise and well-concerted attack uprin tlie enemy's army near German- 
town;" and "to the officers and soldiers of the army, for tlieir brave exertions on that occasion." A 
medal was also ordered to be struck, and presented to Washington. 




276 THE REVOLUTION". [1777. 

Mount Independence, on the opposite side of the lake, was a small fortifica- 
tion and a weak garrison.' These composed the entire 
force, except some feeble detachments of militia, to op- 
pose the invaders. On the approach of Burgojne, St. 
Clair' left his outworks, gathered his forces near the 
fortress, and prepared for an assault ; but when, on the 
evening of the 5th, he saw the scarlet uniforms of the 
British on the top of Mount Defiance,^ and a battery of 
heavy guns planted there,* more than five hundred feet 
above the fort, he knew resistance would be vain. That 

GENERAL ST. CLAIR. . , , , . .. , , xl 1 1 

evenmg ne sent his ammunition and stores up the lake 
to Skenesborough,^ and under cover of the darkness, silently crossed over to 
Mount Independence, and commenced a retreat to Fort Edward,^ the head- 
quarters of General Schuyler, who was then in command of the northern army. 
The retreating army would have been beyond the reach of pursuers by 
dawn, had not their exit been discovered. Contrary to express orders, a build- 
ing was fired on Mount Independence, and by its light their flight was discov- 
ered by the enemy, and a strong party, consisting of the brigade of General 
Fraser, and tAvo Hessian corps under Riedesel, was immediately sent in pursuit. 
At dawn, the Bri^'sh fiag was waving over Ticondcroga ; and a little after sun- 
rise [July 7, 1777], tji^ rear division of the flying Americans, under Colonel 
Seth Warner,' were overtaken in Ilubbardton, Vermont, and a severe engage- 
ment followedf,'' The patriots were defeated and dispersed, and the victors 
returned to Ticonderoga.^ Before sunset the same evening, a flotilla of British 
vessels had overtaken and destroyed the Americans' stores which St. Clair had 
sent up the lake, and also a large quantity at Skcnesborough. The fragments 
of St, Clair's army reached Fort Edward on the 12th, thoroughly dispirited. 
Disaster had followed disaster in quick succession. Within a week, the Amer- 
icans had lost almost two hundred pieces of artillery, and a large amount of 
provisions and military stores. 

' During the previous years, the Americans constructed a picketed fort, or stockade [note 2, 
page 183], on that eminence, built about three hundred huts or barracks, dug several wells, and 
placed batteries at different points. The remains of these are now [1856] everywhere visible on 
ilount Independence. That eminence received this name because the troops took possession of it 
on the 4th of July, 1776. Page 250. 

- Arthur St. (.!lair was a native of Scotland, and came to America with Admiral Boscawen, early 
in May, 1755. lie served under Wolfe [page 201]; and when the Eevolution broke out, he en- 
tered the American army. He served during the war, and afterward commanded an expedition 
against the Indians in Ohio, where he was unsuccessful. He died in 1818, at the age of eighty-four 
years. 

^ This is a hill about 750 feet in height, situated on the south-west side of the outlet of Lake 
George, opposite Ticonderoga. 

* Witli immense labor, Burgoyne opened a road up the northern slope of Mount Defiance, and 
dragged heavy artillery to the summit. From that point, every ball might be hurled Avitliin the 
fort below without difficulty. The position of that road may yet [1856] be traced by the second 
growth of trees on its line up the mountain. 

^ Now Whitehall. It was named after Pliilip Skene, who settled there in 1764. The narrow 
part of Lake Champlain, from Ticonderoga to Whitehall, was formerly called Wood Creek (the name 
of the stream that enters the lake at Whitehall), and also South River. ^ Page 188. ' Page 232. 

" The Americans lost, in killed, wounded, and missing, a little more than three hundred; the 
British reported their loss at one hundred and eighty-three. 



1777.] THIRD YEAR OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 277 

The force under Geneial Schuyler was very small, and even with this rein- 
forcement by the fugitives from the lake, he had only about four thousand eflFect- 
ive men — a number totally inadequate to combat with those of Burgoyne. He 
therefore sent a strong party toward Skenesborough to fell huge trees across 
the roads, and to destroy all the bridges, so as to obstruct the march of the 
invaders, while he slowly retreated down the Hudson valley to the mouth of the 
Mohawk, and there established a fortified camp.' His call for aid was nobly 
responded to, for the whole country was thoroughly aroused to a sense of peril. 
Detachments were sent from the regular army to strengthen him ; and soon 
General Lincoln came Avith a large body of New England militia. When 
General Gates arrived, to take the chief command,^ he found an army of thir- 
teen thousand men, ready to meet the invader. 

The progress of Burgoyne was slow, and he did not roach Fort Edward 
until the 30th of July.' The obstructions ordered by Schuyler, and the de- 
struction of the bridges, were great hinderances.'' His army was also worn down 
by fatigue, and his provisions Avere almost exhausted. To replenish his stores, 
he sent five hundred Germans, Canadians, and Tories, and one hundred Indians, 
under Colonel Baume, to seize provisions and cattle which the Americans had 
collected at Bennington, thirty-five miles distant. Colonel John Stark had 
called out the New Hampshire militia; and near Hoosii . thin five miles of 
Bennington, they met [Aug. 16] and defeated the m;u..^>,jrri. And toward 
evening, when another German party, under Colonel Breyman, approached, 
they also were defeated by a continental force under Colonel Setli Warner.'" 
Many of the enemy were killed, and a large number were made prisoners. Bur- 
goyne's entire loss, in this expedition, was almost a thousand men. The Amer- 
icans had one hundred killed, and as many wounded. This defeat Avas fatal to 
Burgoyne' s future operations'' — this victory was a day-star of hope to the 




* Thaddeus Kosciuszko, a Polish refu^'ee, who came with Lafay- 
ette [page 273], was now attached to Schuyler's army, as engineer. 
Under his direction, the intrenchments at the mouth of the Mohawk 
River, were constructed ; also, those at Stillwater and Saratoga. The 
camp at the mouth of the Mohawk was upon islands just below the 
Great, or Cohoes' Falls. 

" General Schuyler had superseded Gates in June, and had been 
skillfully confronting Burgoyne. But Gates, seeing a chance for gain- 
ing laurels, and having a strong party of friends in Congress, sought 
the chief command of the northern army. It was ungenerously taken / 
from Schuyler at the moment when, by great exertions and througli 
great hardships, he had a force prepared to confront Burgoyne, with 
some prospect of success. 

^ It was while Burgoyne was approaching that point, that Jano KOsrirszKO. 

M'Crea, the betrothed of a young Tory in the British army, was shot, 

wliile being conveyed by a party of Indians from Fort Edward to the British camp. Ilcr death was 
untruly charged upon the Indians, and it was made tlie subject of the most bitter denunciations of the 
Britisli ministers, for employing such cruel instrumentalities. The place of her deatli is a short dis- 
tance from the village of Fort Edward. The pine-tree wliich marked the spot, decayed a few years 
since, and in 1853, it was cut down, and converted into canes and boxes for the curiou.s. 

* Burgojme was obliged to construct forty bridges on the way, and to remove tlio many trees 
which lay across the roads. To estimate the amount of fatigue which the troops must have endured 
during that liot month, it must be remembered tliat each soldier bore a weiglit of sixty pounds, in 
arms, accoutrements, and supplies. * Pa<res 234 and 240. 

" It dispirited liis troops, who were worn down with the fatisue of the obstruct'^! nnrch from 
Skenesborough to Fort Edward. It also caused a delay of a month at that place, and in the mean 



THE REVOLUTION. 



[177Y. 




Americans. Applause of the New Hampshire militia rang through the land, 
and Stark was made a brigadier in the continental army. 

During Burgojne's approach, the Mohawk valley had become a scene of 
iireat confusion and alarm. Colonel St. Leger and his 
savages, joined by the Mohawk Indians, under Brant,' 
and a body of Tories, under Johnson" and Butler, had 
arrived from Oswego, and invested Fort Stanwix, on 
the 3d of August [1777]. The garrison -was com- 
manded by Colonel Gansevoort, and made a spirited 
defense. General Herkimer rallied the militia of his 
neighborliood ; and while marching to the assistance of 
Gansevoort, he fell into an Indian ambuscade [Aug. 6] 
at Oriskany.^ His party was totally defeated, after a 
bloody conflict, and himself was mortally wounded. On 
the same day, a corps of the garrison, under Colonel 
Willet, made a successful sortie," and broke the power of the besiegers. 
Arnold, who had been sent by Schuyler to the relief of the fort, soon afterward 
approached, when the besiegers fled [Aug. 22], and quiet was restored to the 
Mohawk valley. 

The disastrous events at Bennington and Fort Stan- 
wix, and the straitened condition of his commissariat, 
greatly perplexed Burgoyne. To retreat, advance, or 
remain inactive, seemed equally perilous. With little 
hope of reaching Albany, where he had boasted he would 
cat his Christmas dinner, he crossed the Hudson and 
formed a fortified camp on the hills and plains of Sara- 
toga, now the site of Schuylerville. General Gates 
advanced to Bemis's Heights, about four miles north of 



JOSEPH BRANT. 




GENERAL BURGOYNE. 



while their provisions were rapidly diminishing. "Wlaile at Fort Edward, Burgoyne received intel- 
ligence of the defeat of St. Leger at Fort Stanwix. 

' Joseph Brant was a Mohawk Indian, and a great favorite of Sir William Johnson. He ad- 
hered to the British, and went to Canada after the war, where he died in 1807, aged sixty-five 
year'!. 

^ Sir William Johnson [page 190] (then dead) had been a sort of auto- 
crat among the Indians and Tories in the Mohawk valkn'. He flattered 
the chiefs in various ways, and through them he obtained almost un- 
bounded influence over the tribes, especially that of the Mohawks. He 
was in the habit of giving those chiefs who pleased him, a diploma, certi- 
fying their good character, and faitlifulness to his majesty. These con- 
tamed a picture, representing a treaty councD, of which the annexed 
engraving is a copy. His family were the worst enemies of the Ameri- 
A TREATY. cans during the war, in that region. His son, John, raised a regiment of 

Tories, called the Johnson Greens (those who joined St. Leger) ; and John 
Butler, a cruel leader, was at the head of another band, called Batler^s Rangers. These co-operated 
wdth Brant, the great Mohawk sachem, and for years they made the Mohawk vaUey and vicinity 
truly a "dark and bloody ground." These men were the allies of St. Leger on the occasion in 
question. 

' The place of the battle is about half way between Utica and Rome. The latter village is upon 
the site of Fort Stanwix, built by Bradstroet and his troops in 1758 [page 197]. It was repaired 
and garrisoned in 1776, and its name was changed to Fort Schuyler. Another Fort Schuyler was 
built during tlie French and Indian Waj, where Utica now stands. 
* JS^ote 7, page 241. 





.— A 

BURGOYNE SuiiKENDERINO HIS SwORD TO GATES. 



1111.] 



THIRD YEAR OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 



281 



Stillwater (and twenty-five from Albany), and also formed a fortified camp.' 
Burgoyiic perceived the necessity for immediate operations, and advancing toward 
the American camp, a severe but indecisive action 
ensued, on the 19th of September [1777 j. Night 
terminated the conflict, and both parties claimed the 
victory.^ Burgoyne fell back to his camp, where he 
resolved to await the arrival of expected detach- 
ments from General Clinton, who was to attack the 
posts on the Hudson Highlands, and force his way to 
Albany.' But after waiting a few days, and hearing 
nothing from Clinton, he prepared for another at- 
tempt upon the Americans, for the militia were flock- 
ing to Gates's camp, and Indian warriors of the Six 
Nations^ were gathering there. His OAvn force, on 
the contrary, was hourly diminishing. As his star, which arose so brightly at 
Ticonderoga,5 began to decline upon the Hudson, the Canadians and his Indian 
allies deserted him in great numbers." He was compelled to fight or flee. 
Aijain he advanced ; and after a severe battle of several hours, on the 7th of 
October, and almost on the same ground occupied on the 19th of September, he 
was compelled to fall back to the heights of Saratoga, and leave the patriots in 
the possession of the field. Ten days afterward [October 17], finding only 
three days' provisions in his camp, hearing nothing of Clinton, and perceiving 
retreat impossible, he Avas compelled to surrender his whole army prisoners of 
war.' Of necessity, the forts upon Lake Champlain now fell into the hands of 
the patriots. 




BEMIS'S HEIGHTS. 



' The remains of some of the intreuchments were yet visible ia 1850, when tlie writer visited 
tlic locality. 

^ Tlie number of Americans engaged in this action, was about two thousand five hundred ; that 
of tlie British was about three tliousand. The former lost, in killed, wounded, and missing, three 
hundred and nineteen; the British loss was rather less than five hundred. ' Page 283. 

* Page 25. * Page 276. 

* The Indians had been disappointed in their expectations of blood and plunder; and now was 
their hunting season, when provisions must be secured for winter use. The Canadians saw nothing 
but defeat in the future, and left tiie army in whole companies. 

' Tiie whole number surrendered was five thousand seven hundred and ninety-one, of whom 
two thousand four hundred and twelve were Germans or Hessians [page 18.3], under the chief com- 
mand of tlie Baron Riedesel, whose wife accompanied him, and afterward wrote a very interesting 
account of her experience in America. Burgoyne did dine at Albany, but as a prisoner, though a 
guest at the table of General Schuyler. That noble patriot, though smarting under the injustice of 
Congress and the pride of Gates, did not abate his zeal for the good cause when he had surrendered 
his command into tlie hands of his successor, but, as a private citizen, gave his time, his labor, and 
his money freely, until he saw the invader humbled ; and then, notwitlistanding Burgoyne, without 
the show of a just excuse, had destroyed Schuyler's fine mansion, his mills, and much other prop- 
erty, at Saratoga, he made the vanciuished general a guest at his own table. When Burgoyne said, 
"You are very kind to one who has done you so much injury," the generous patriot replied, "That 
was the ftxte of war ; lot us say no more about it." Burgoyiie's troops laid douTi their arms upon 
the plain in front of Schuylerville ; and the meeting of the conqueror and the conquered, for the 
latter to surrender his sword, was a very significant scene. The two came out of Gates's marquee 
together. Without exchanging a word, Burgoyne, according to previous arrangement, stepped 
back, drew his sword, and, in the presence of the two armies, prescMitod it to General Gates. The 
latter received it witli a courteous inclination of the head, and instantly returned it to the vanquished 
general. Tliey then returned to the marquee together. The British filed off, and took up their line 
of march for Boston : and thus ended this important act in the groat drama, upon the heights of 
Saratoga. Burgoyne's troops were marched to Cambridge, Massachusetts, with the view of sending 



282 THE REYOLUTION. [1777. 

Glorious, indeed, was this victory for the Americans. It gave them a fine 
train of brass artillery, five thousand muskets, and a vast amount of munitions 
of Avar. Its moral effect was of greater importance. All eyes had been 
anxiously turned to the army of the North, and Congress and the people 
listened eagerly for every breath of rumor from Saratoga. How electric Avas 
the effect Avhen a shout of victory came from the camp of Gates !' It rolled 
over the land, and was echoed from furrows, Avorkshops, marts of commerce, 
the halls of legislation, and from the shattered army of Washington at White- 
marsh." Toryism stood abashed ; the bills of Congress rose tAventy per cent, in 
value :' private capital came from its hiding-places for public employment ; the 
militia flocked to the standards of leaders, and the great patriot heart of Amer- 
ica beat Avith strong pulsations of hope. The effect in Europe Avas also favor- 
able to the Americans. The highest hopes of the British ministry rested on 
this expedition, and the generalship of Burgoyne justified tlieir exjsectations. 
It was a most severe bloAV, and gaA-e the opposition in Parliament the keenest 
weapons. Pitt, leaning upon his crutches,* poured forth eloquent denunciations 
[December, 1777] of the mode of Avarfare pursued — the employment of German 
hirelings' and brutal savages." "If I Avere an American, as I am an English- 
man," he exclaimed, "while a foreign troop Avas landed in my country, I never 
Avould lay doAvn my arms — never, never, never !'' In the LoAver House,' 
Burke, Fox, and Barrc Avere equally severe upon the government. When, on 
the 3d of December, the neAvs of Burgoyne' s defeat reached London, the latter 
arose in his place in the Commons,^ and Avith a serene and solemn countenance, 
asked Lord George Germain, the Secretary of War, Avhat news he had received 
by Ills last expresses from Quebec, and to say, upon his Avord of honor, Avhat 
had become of Burgoyne and his brave army. The haughty secretary Avas 
irritated by the cool irony of the question, but w.is comp:!lled to acknoAV ledge 
that the unhappy intelligence of Burgoyne's surrender had reached him. He 
added, " The intelligence needs confirmation." That confirmation Avas not 
sloAV in reaching the ministry. 

Mightily did this victory Aveigh in fiivor of the Americans, at the French 



them to Europe, but Congress thought it proper to retain them, and they were marched to the 
interior of Virginia. John Burg03'ne was a natural son of Lord Binglej^, and was quite eminent as 
a dramatic autlior. On liis return to England, he resumed liis seat as a member of Parliament, and 
opposed the war. He died in 1792. 

' General Gates was so elated with the victory, which had been prepared for liim by General 
Schuyler, and won chiefly by the valor of Arnold and Morgan [page 331], that he neglected the 
courtesy due to the commander-in-chief, and instead of sending his dispatches to him, he sent his 
aid. Colonel A^''ilkinson, with a verbal message to Congress. That body also foi-got its dignity in 
the hoar of its joy. and the young officer was allowed to announce the victory himself, on the floor 
of Congress. In" his subsequent dispatches. Gates did not even mention tlie names of Arnold and 
Morgan. History has vindicated their claims to the honor of the victory, and placed a just estimate 
upon the ungenerous conduct of their commander. Congress voted a gold medal to Gates. 

* Page 275. ^ Note 3, page 245. * Note 1, page 231. * Note 3, page 246. 

* A member justified the employment of the Indians, by saying that the British had a right to 
use the means " which God and nature had given them." Pitt scornfully repeated the passage, and 
said, "These abominable principles, and this most abominal)le avowal of them, demands most 
decisive indignation. I call upon that right reverend bench (pointing to the bishops), those holy 
ministers of the gospel, and pious pastors of the church — I conjure them to join in the holy work, 
and to vindicate the religion of their God." ' Note 2, page 218. * Note 2, page 218. 



1777.] THIRD YEAR OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 283 

court. Unaided by any foreign poAver, the Americans had defeated and cap- 
tured a well-trained army of about six thousand men, led by experienced com- 
manders. " Surely such a people possess the elements of success, and will achieve 
it. We may now safely strike England a severe blow,' by acknowledging the 
independence, and forming an alliance with her revolted colonies," argued the 
French government. And so it did. Intelligence of the surrender of Bur- 
goyne reached Paris on the 4th of December, 1777. King Louis then cast off all 
disguise, and informed the American commissioners that the treaty of alliance 
and commerce, already negotiated, Avould be ratified, and "that it was decided 
to acknowledge the independence of the United States." AVithin a little more 
than a hundred days after Burgoyne laid down his arms at Saratoga, Franco 
had formed an alliance Avith the confederated States [Feb. 6, 1778], and pub- 
licly avowed it. The French king, in the mean while, wrote to his uncle, the 
king of Spain, urging his co-operation ; for, according to the family compact 
of the Bourbons, made in 1761, the king of Spain was to be consulted before 
such a treaty could be ratified. 

While these events Avere in progress at Saratoga, General Clinton w^as 
making hostile demonstrations upon the banks of the loAver Hudson. He 
attempted the concerted co-operation with Burgoyne, but he Avas too late for 
success. He ascended the Hudson with a strong force, captured Forts Clinton 
and Montgomery, in the Highlands' [October 6, 1777], and sent a marauding 
expedition above these mountain barriers, to devastate the country [October 
13], and endeavor to draAV off some of the patriot troops from Saratoga.^ These 
marauders burned Kingston, and penetrated as far as Livingston's JNIanor, in 
Columbia county. Informed of the surrender of Burgoyne, they hastily 
retreated, and Clinton and his army returned to New York. Some of Gates' 
troops noAv joined Washington at White Marsh,' and Howe made several 
attempts to entice the chief from his encampment, but Avithout success.^ Finally 

' France rejoiced at the embarrassments of England, on account of her revolted colonies, and 
from the beginning secretly favored tlie latter. She thought it mexpedient to aid the colonics 
openly, until there appeared some chance for their success, yet arms and money were secretly pro- 
vided [note 3, page 266], for a long time previous to the alliance. Her motives were not the 
benevolent ones to aid the patriots, so much as a selfish desire to injure E]ngland for her own bene- 
fit. The French king, in a letter to his uncle, of Spain, avowed the objects to be to '■ prevent the. 
union of the colonies with the mother country," and to '• form a beneficial alliance with them." A 
Bourbon (the flxmily of Frencli kings) was never known to be an howsf. advocate of free principles. 

^ Tliese forts were situated on opposite sides of a stream which forms tlie dividing line 
between Orange and Rockland counties. Fort Indpendence, near Peekskill, and Fort Constitution, 
opposite West Point, were abandoned on his approach. Fort Putnam, at AVest Point, was not yet 
erected. 

^ While the garrison of the two forts (who escaped) were re-gathering, back of New Windsor, a 
man from the British army was arrested on suspicion of being a spy. lie was seen to swallow 
something. An emetic brouixht it up, and it was discovered to be a liollow silver bullet, containing 
a dispatch from Clinton to Burgoyne, written on thin paper. That bulU't is yet in the family of 
George Clinton, who was the first republican governor of New York. The dispatch was as 
follows: '-Nbu-s y void [Here we are], and nothing between us and Gates. I sincerely hope this 
little success of ours will facilitate your operations. In answer to your letter of the 28th of Sep- 
tember, by C. C, I shall only say, I can not presume to order, or even advise, for reasons obvious. 
I heartily wish you success. Faithfully yours, 11. Clinton'." The prisoner was taken to Kingston, 
and there hanged as a spy. * Page 275. 

* Howe marched out to attack Washington on the 4th of December, expecting to take him by 
surprise. A Quaker lady of Philadelphia, at whose house some British officers were quartered, hatl 



284 



THE REVOLUTION. 



[1778. 



Washington moved from that position [December 11], and went into winter 
quarters at Valley Forge, where he might easier afford protection to Congress 
at York, and his stores at Reading.' The events of that encampment at Valley 
Forn-e afford some of the gloomiest as well as some of the most brilliant scenes 
in the records of American patriotism. 



CHAPTER V. 

FOURTH TEAR OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. [1778.] 

If there is a spot on the face of our broad land wherein patriotism should 
delight to pile its highest and most venerated monument, it should be in the 
bosom of that rugged gorge on the bank of the Schuylkill, twenty miles north- 




west from Philadelphia, known a? Valley Forge, where the American army 
was encamped during the terrible winter of 1777-'78." In all the world's his- 

overhcard them talking about this enterprise, gave "Washington timely information, and he was too 
well prepared for Howe, to fear his menaces. After some skirmishes, in wliich several Americans 
were lost, Howe returned to Philadelphia. ' Page 274. 

"^ That was a winter of severe and protracted cold. The waters of New York Bay were so 
ilnnly frozen, that the British took heavy cannons from the city to Staten Island, on the ice. 



1778.] 



FOURTH YEAR OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE 



285 



torj, "wc have no record of purer devotion, holier sincerity, or more pious self- 
immolation, than was then and there exhibited in the camp of Washington. 
Man J of the soldiers had marched thither from Whitemarsh, bare-footed, and 
left bloody foot-prints in the snow on their dreary 
journey.' There, in the midst of frost and snow, half- 
clad and scantily fed, they shivei'cd in rude huts, 
while the British army Avas indulging in comforts and 
luxuries within a largo city.' Yet that freezing and 
starving army did not despair ; nor did the com- 
mander-in-chief, who shared their privations and suf- 
fered injury at the hands of intriguing men,^ lose con- 
fidence in the patriotism of the people or his troops, 
or doubt the wisdom of Providence.* The winter wore 
away, and when the buds began to burst, a cheering 
ray of glad tidings came from Europe. The intelli- 
gence of the treaty of alliance with France,* was a 
liopeful assurance of success, and when the news 
spread through the camp, on the 1st of May [1778], 
shouts loud and long shook the forests which shrouded the hills around A''alley 
Forgo.'"' 

Nor was that a solitary gleam of hope. Light also emanated from the 




r.NCAMl'MENT AT VALLEY FORGE- 



■ Gordon, the historian, says, that while at "Washington's table in 1784, the chief informed him 
that bloody foot-prints were everywhere visible in the course of their march of nineteen miles, from 
\V'hitemarsh to Valley Forge. 

* The power of the British army was much weakened by indulgence, during that winter. Prof- 
ligacy begat disease, crime, and insubordination. The evil eflects produced upon the army led Dr. 
Franklin to say, " Howe did not take Pliiladelphia — Philadelphia took Howe." General Howe took 
leave of the army in May, and the officers gave him a splendid farewell fete, which was called a 
Mischianza, signifying a medley. For a full description, see Lossing's Field Book of the Revolution. 
During their occupation of the city, the enemy were anuo\'ed by the patriots in various ways. In 
January, some Whigs at Bordentown, where Francis Hopkinson, one of tlie signers of the Declara- 
tion of Independence, resided, sent a number of kegs down the Delaware, which were filled with 
powder, and furnished with machinery, in such a manner, that on rubbing against any object in the 
stream, they would explode. These were the torpedoes invented by Bushnell of Connecticut, 
already mentioned on page 252. The British vessels, hauled into the docks to keep clear of the ice, 
escaped recsiving any injury from these missiles. One of them exploded near the city, and pro- 
duced intense alarm. Not a stick or a chip was seen floating, for twenty-four hour.s afterward, but 
it was fired at by the British. This circumstance afforded the theme for that remarkable poem from 
the pen of Hopkinson, entitled The Battle of the Kegs. Hopkinson [see page 284] was a native of 
Philadelphia and married and settled in Bordentown, New Jersey. He was an elegant writer, a 
great wit, a good musician, and a thorough-bred gentleman. He was a warm and active patriot, 
became eminent as a jurist after the war, and died in 1791, at the ago of forty-seven years. His 
brother, Joseph Hopkinson, was the author of our national song. Hail Columbia. 

'•' During this season a scheme was formed among a few odicers of the army, and members of 
Congress, for depriving Washington of his command, and giving it to Gates or Lee. Both of these 
ambitious men soaght the honor, and the former was fully identified with the clandestine raove- 
monts toward that end. One of the chief actors in the plot, wlio was more the instrument of others 
than a voluntary and ind 'pendent schemer, was General Conway, an Irishman, who belonged to the 
continental armv. The plot was discovered and defeated, and Conway was led to make a most 
hiimble apology to Wasliington, for his conduct. 

* On one occasion, Isaac Potts, whose house was Washington's head-quarters .it Valley Forgo, 
discovered the chief in u retired place, pouring out his soul in prayer to his God. Potts went homo 
to his wife, and said, witli tears in his eyes, " If there Ls any one on this earth to whom the Lord 
will hsten, it is George Washington " " ' Page 283. 

" On the 7th day of May the army fired salutes in honor of the event, and by directioa of th9= 
cliief; they all shouted, " Huzza for the king of Francs T 



286 THE REVOLUTION. [1778. 

British throne and Parliament. The capture of Burgoyne, and the general 
failure of the campaign of 1777, had made the English people, and a powerful 
minority in Parliament, clamorous for peace and reconciliation. Lord North, 
the prime-minister,' Avas compelled to listen. To the astonishment of every 
body, ho proposed [Feb. 17] a repeal of all the acts of Parliament obnoxious to 
the Americans, which had been enacted since 1763 ; and in the course of his 
speech in favor of his conciliatory plan, he actually proposed to treat the Con- 
tinental Congress as a legal body.' Two bills, expressing these conciliatory 
measures, were passed after much opposition,' and received the signature of the 
kino-, on the 11th of March. Commissioners^ were appointed to proceed to 
America to negotiate for peace with Congress, and the British government 
seemed really anxious to offer the olive branch, without qualification. But the 
Americans had been too often deceived to accept any thing confidingly from that 
source, and as soon as these bills reached Congress [April 15] , and it was found 
that they made no mention of the independence of the colonies, that body at 
once rejected them as deceptive. When the commissioners came [June 4], 
Congress refused to negotiate with them until Great Britain should withdraw 
her fleets and armies, or unequivocally acknowledge the independence of the 
United States. After unsuccessfully appealing to the American people, and 
one of them endeavoring to bribe members of Congress,^ the commissioners 
returned to England, and the war went on. 

The alliance with France gave the patriots greater confidence in their ulti- 
mate success. It was immediately productive of action. The first movement 
of the French government, in compliance with the requirements of that treaty, 
was to dispatch a squadron, consisting of twelve ships of the line, and four 
large frigates, under Count D'Estaing, to blockade the British fleet in the Del- 
aware. When, a month before ho sailed, the British ministry was oflScially 
informed [jNIarch 17, 1778] of the treaty, and it was considered equivalent to a 
declaration of war, a vessel was dispatched with a message to the British com- 
manders, ordering them to evacuate Philadelphia and the Delaware, and to con- 
centrate their forces at New York. Fortunately for Lord Howe, he had left 



' Pa.fje 224. ^ Note 2, page 253. 

^ Pitt was favorable to these bills, but when a proposition was made to acknowledge the independ- 
ence of the colonics, and thus dismember the British empire, he opposed the measure with all his 
might. He was in favor of reconciliation, not of separation. It was during his speech on this sub- 
ject, that he was seized [April 7] with the illness which terminated his life a month afterward. 
Pitt was born in November, 1708, and died on the 11th of May, 1778, when almost seventy year.s 
of age. 

* The Earl of Carlisle, George Johnstone, formerly governor of Florida, and "William Eden, 
a brother of Sir Robert Eden, the last royal governor of Maryland. Adam Ferguson, the eminent 
professor of Moral Philosophy in the University of Edinbnrg, accompanied them as secretary. 

* Among those who were approached was General Joseph Reed, a delegate from Pennsyl- 
vania. Mrs. Ferguson, wife of a relative to the secretary of the commissioners, then residing in 
Pliiladelpliia, and who was intimate with Mr. Reed, was employed to sound him. Mr. Reed had 
been suspected by some of his compatriots of rather easy virtue as a republican, and the fact that 
he was approachable in this way, confirmed their suspicions. Mrs. Ferguson was authorized to 
offer him high official station and a large sum of money, if he would use his influence in favor of 
peace, according to the submissive terms offered by the commissioners. ITer mission became 
known, and General Reed alleged that he said to her, "I am not worth purchasing; but such as I 
am, the king of England is not rich enough to do it." 




1778.] FOURTH TEAR OP THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 287 

the Delaware a few days before the arrival of D'Estaiiig' [July 8, 1778], and 
found safety in the waters of Aniboy or Raritan Bay, into which the heavy 
French vessels could not enter over the bar that stretches northward from 
Sandy Hook toward the Narrows. A little earlier than this, there had been a 
change in the command of the British army. Sir Henry Clinton,"^ a more effi- 
cient officer than Jlowe, had succeeded him as gcneral- 
in-chief, toward the close of May, and on the 18th of 
June, he withdrew his whole army from Philadelphia. 
"With eleven thousand men, and an immense baggage 
and provision train, he started for New York, by the 
way of New Brunswick and Amboy. Washington, sus- 
pecting some important movement, was on the alert, and 
breaking up his encampment at Valley Forge, he pur- 
sued Clinton with more than eciual force. ^ By adroit 

, , I- 1 A • • GEXERAL CLIXTOX. 

movements, detaclmients or the American army so mter- 

ccpted Clinton's march, as to compel him to change his course in the direction 
of Sandy Hook, while New Jersey militia continually harassed his flanks and 
rear.^ Finally, a general engagement took place [June 28, 1778] on the 
plains of Monmouth, in the present village of Freehold, in New Jersey. 

The 28th of June, 1778, a day memorable in the annals of Freedom, was 
the Christian Sabbath. The sky was cloudless over the plains of Monmouth,^ 
when the morning dawned, and the sun came up with all the fervor of the sum- 
mer solstice. It was the sultriest day of the year — one of th.e warmest ever 
known. On that calm Sabbath morning, in the midst of paradisal beauty, 
twenty thousand men girded on the implements of hellish war, to maim and 
destroy each other — to sully the green grass and the fragrant flowers with 
human blood. Nature was smiling in her summer garments, and in earth and 
air there was fullness of love and harmony. Man, alone, was the discordant 
note in the universal melody. He, alone, the proud "lord of creation,"' dis- 
turbed the chaste worship of the hour, which ascended audibly from the groves, 
the streams, the meadows, and the woodlands. 

The two armies began to prepare for action at about one o'clock in the 
morning, and at day-break they were in motion. Before nine, detachments met 



' Silas Deane [page 26G] roturned to America in D'Estaing's flag-ship, and Gerard, the first 
French minister to the United States, came in the same vessel. Congress was now in se.ssion in 
Piiiladelpliia, having returned from York [page 274] on the oOtli of June, twelve daj-s after the 
British had left for New York. 

* Henry Clinton was a son of George Clinton, governor of the province of New York in 174.3, 
and a grandson of the Earl of Lincoln. After the war he was made governor of Gibraltar [1795], 
and died there the same year. 

' Arnold was yet quite lame from the effects of a severe wound in the leg, which he received in 
the battle on Bemis's Heights [page 278]. and at his solicitation, Washington left him in command of 
a corps at Philadelphia, with the powers of a military governor. Washington crossed the Delaware 
in pursuit of Clinton, with a httle more than 12.000 men. 

* "Washington was .■nixious to attack Clinton when he was in the vicinity of Allentown, but Leo 
and others overruled his opinions, in a council of war. Greene, La Fayette, and Wayne agreed 
with the chief and supported by these able officers, he resolved on a general engagement. 

' The battle of Moiunoath was fought in the immediate vicinity of the pr-^scnt village of Free- 
hold, New Jersey, chielly withui the space of two miles north-west of the town. 



288 



THE REVOLUTION. 



[1778. 




BATTLE AT MONMOUTH. 



in deadly conflict, and from that hour until dark, on that long summer day, the 

terrible contest raged. It was 
commenced by the advanced division 
of the American army, under Gen- 
eral Charles Lee.' His apparent 
•want of skill or courage, and a mis- 
understanding of orders on the 
part gf some of his officers, pro- 
duced a general and tumultuous 
retreat of his division. The fugitives were met by the approaching main body, 
under Washino-ton," and being speedily checked and restored to order by the 
chief they Avere led to action, and the battle became general. Many fell under 
the excessive heat of the day, and when night came, both parties were glad to 
rest. The Americans slept on their arms^ during the night, with the intention 
of renewing the battle at dawn, but when light appeared, the British camp was 
deserted. Clinton had silently withdrawn [June 29], and was far on his way 
toward Sandy Hook.' Washington did not follow, but marching to New 
Brunswick, and thence to the Hudson River, he proceeded to White Plains," 
where he remained until late in autumn. Then he crossed into New Jersey, 
and made his winter quarters at jNIiddlebrook, on the Raritan, where he was 



' Pag3 248. This command was first given to La Fayette, but when Lee, who had opposed the 
measure in council, signified his readiness to lead it, it was given to him, as he was the senior 
officer. 

"^ Washington was greatly irritated when he met the fiigitives, and riding up to Lee, he 
addressed him with much warmth of language, and directed liim to assist in restoring order. Lee 
promptly obeyed, but the sting of Wasliiugton's words rankled in his bosom, and on that day, after 
the battle, he" addressed an offensive letter to the cliief. Lee was arrested and tried by a court- 
martial, on the charges of disobedience of orders, misbehavior before the enemy, and disrespect to 
the commander-in-chief lie was found guih.y, and was suspended from conmiand for one year. 
H« never entered the army again, and died in obscurity, in Philadelphia, in October, 1782. He 
was brave, but bad in manners and morals, profane in language, and a contemner of religion. It is 
believed that he was willing to have Washington lose the battle of Monmouth, because he (Lee), 
was opposed to it, and at the same time was seeking to rise to the chief command upon the ruins 
of Washington's reputation. We have already alluded to the conspiracy toward that end, on page 
285. The hottest of the battle occurred a sliort distance from the Freehold Presbyterian Church 
yet [185G] standing. Near it is a board, with an inscription, sho-wdng the burial-spot of Colonel 
Monckton, of the British army, who was killed in the battle. 

^ This expression is used respecting troops who sleep with all their accoutrements on, and 
their weapons by their side, ready for action in a moment. The British left about three hundred 
killed on the field of battle. They also left a large number of the sick and wounded to the mercy 
of the Americans. The Americans lost in killed, wounded, and missing, two hundred and twenty- 
eight. Many of the missing afterward rejoined the army. They had less than seventy killed. 

^ In his dispatch to the Secretary of War, General Clinton said, "I took advantage of the moon- 
light to rejoin General Knyphausen,'"' &c. As, according to an almanac of that year, the moon was 
quite new, and set two hours before Clinton's march, this boast of leaving in the moonlight occa- 
sioned much merriment. Trumbull, in his M-Fingal, alluding to this, says. 



' He forms his camp with great parade, 
While evening spreads the world in shade, 
Then still, like some endanger d spark, 
Steals otf oil tiptoe in the dark ; 
Yet writes his king, in boasting tone. 
How grand he march'd by light of moon I 



Oo on, great general, nor regard 
The scoffs of every scribbling bard. 



'Who sings how gods, that fearful night. 
Aided by miracle your flight; 
As once they used, in Homer's day. 
To help weak heroes rni. away : 
Tells how the hours, at this sad trial, 
Went hack, as erst on Ahaz' dial, 
W^hile British Joshua stayed the moon 
On Monmouth's plain for Ajalon. 
Heed not their sneers or gibes so arch, 
Because she set before your march."' 



* Page 305. 




1778.] FOURTH TEAR OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 289 

encamped in the spring and summer of the previous year.' Clinton's shattered 
forces went on board the British fleet at Sandy Hook, and proceeded to New- 
York, where the head quarters of the royal army continued until the close of 
the war.* And when D'Estaing appeared off Sandy Hook, the British fleet Avas 
safe in Raritan Bay. As Ave have already mentioned, 
- the bar from Sandy Hook to Staten Island Avould not 
alloAV the heavy French vessels to pass, and D'Estaing 
therefore relinquished his design of attacking HoAve's 
fleet, and on the solicitation of Washington, he proceeded 
to ' NcAvport, to assist the Americans in an attempt to 
dri\'e the British from Rhode Island.^ General Sullivan 
had been sent to supersede General Spencer in command 
there ; and Washington also dispatched La Fayette, Avith 
two continental regiments (accompanied by General count d'estaixg. 
Greene, then quartermaster general), to aid in the expe- 
dition. John Hancock' came at the head of Massachusetts militia, and similar 
troops gathered at Tiverton, from Connecticut and Rhode Island." On the 9th 
of August, [1778], thcAvhole American force crossed from Tiverton to the north 
end of Rhode Island, and the British guards fled to the camp of General Pigot, 
at NcAvport. 

Several ships of war came from England at about this time, to reinforce the 
British fleet at Ncav York, and a few days after D"Estaing sailed for Newport, 
a large squadron under Howe, proceeded to the relief of Pigot. It appeared 
off Rhode Island on the same day [Aug. 9] when the Americans landed on the 
northern end of it. D'Estaing, who was then within the harbor, Avcnt out to 
meet HoAve, but before they came to an engagement, a terrible storm arose 
[Aug. 12], and scattered and disabled both fleets.^ The French squadron 
returned to Newport [August 20], and immediately sailed for Boston to be 
repaired. The Americans had then ad\\nnced almost to NcAvport, Avith every 
prospect of making a successful siege. They had been promised four thousand 
land troops from the French fleet. These were denied them ; and refusing to 
listen to entreaties or remonstrances, D'Estaing sailed for Boston and abandoned 
the Americans.^ The latter hastily Avithdrew to the north end of the island 

^ Page 272. ^ Page 3.50. ^ Page 261. •• Page 231. 

^ The people of Rhode Island had suffered dreadfully from the brutality of the British troops. 
There had been some amelioration of their condition since the capture of Prescott [page 271]. and 
under the rule of Pigot, the present commander. When success seemed possible, thousands of 
volunteers flocked to the standards of SuUivau and La Fayette. John Hancock was appointed a 
general of some of these A'olunteers. But his term of service was short. Like Dr. Franklin [page 
193], Hancock was better fitted for a statesman than a soldier. 

® Very oM people on Rhode Island, who remembered this gale, spoke of it to the writer in 
18.50, as "the great storm." So violent was the wind, that it brought spray from the ocean a mil© 
distant, and encrusted the windows ot the town with salt. 

' This conduct was warmly censured by the American commanders, because it liad no valid 
excuse. It deprived them of a victory just Avithin their grasp. Congress, however, afraid to offend 
the French, uttered not a word of blame. The matter was passed over, but not forgotten. Once 
again [page 305], the same admiral abandoned the Americans. D'P]staing was a native of 
Auvergne, France. He became involved in the French Revolution, in 1792, and in the spring of 
1793, ho was guillotiied. The guillotine was an instrument for cutting off the head, invented by 
M. Gmllotine, who avBs eventually beheaded by it himself. 

19 



290 THE REVOLUTION. [1718. 

[August 28], pursued bj the British, and a severe engagement took place 
[August 29J at Quaker Hill. Sullivan repulsed the British, and on the night 
of the 30th, withdrew his whole army to the main, near Bristol, in time to 
avoid an interception by Sir Henry Clinton, who had just arrived with four 
thousand troops, in light vessels.' The Americans lost in this expedition, thirty 
killed, and one hundred and seventy-two wounded and missing. The British 
loss was about two hundred and twenty. 

"While these events were transpiring on the sea-board, a dreadful tragedy 
was enacted in the interior, when the Wyoming, Mohawk, Schoharie, and 
Cherry Valleys, were made the theaters of terrible scenes of blood and devasta- 
tion. Tories from distant Niagara,"- and savages upon the head waters of the 
Susquehanna, gathered at Tioga early in June ; and at the beginning of July, 
eleven hundred of these white and dusky savages, under the general command 
of Colonel John Butler,' entered [July 2, 1778] the lovely valley of Wyoming, 
in northern Pennsylvania. INIost of the strong men were then away on distant 
duty, and families and homes found defenders only in aged men, tender youths, 
resolute women, and a few trained soldiers. These, about four hundred strong, 
under Colonel Zebulon Butler,^ marched up the valley [July 4], to drive back 
the invaders. But they were terribly smitten by the foe, and a large portion 
of them Avere slain or made prisoners. A few escaped to Forty Fort, near 
Wilkesbarre, wherein families, for miles around, had sought safety. Uncertain 
of their fate — for the invaders were sweeping like a dark storm down the Sus- 
quehanna — the night of the battle-day was a terrible one for the people in the 
fort. But their agony of suspense was ended tiie following morning, when the 
leader of the invaders, contrary to the expectations of those who knew him, 
agreed upon humane terms of surrender." The gates of the fort were thrown 
open, and most of the families returned to their homes in fancied security. They 
were doomed to terrible disappointment and woe. Brant, the great Indian 

' When Clinton was assured of the security of Rhode Island, he detached General Grey on a 
marauding expedition upon the southern shores of Massachusetts, and among the adjacent islands, 
and then returned to New York. Grey burned about seventy vessels in Buzzard's Bay, near New 
Bedford, and in that vicinity destroyed property valued at more than three hundred and twenty- 
three thousand dollars. He then went to Martha's Vineyard [page 5T], and carried away, for the 
armv in New York, about three hundred oxen, and ten thousand sheep. On the first of October, 
Clinton sent a successful expedition to capture American stores at Little Egg Harbor, on the New 
.Jersey coast. ^ Page 200. ^ Note 2, page 278. 

* Zebulon Butler was a native of Connecticut, and was born in 1731. He was in the French 
and Indian War, and was one of the earlier settlers in Wyoming. In 1778 he was appointed 
colonel, and was with Sullivan in liis memorable expedition against the Senecas [pag-e 304] the M- 
lowing year. He was in active service thoughout the war, and died in Wyoming in 1795, at the 
age of sixty-four years. 

^ All our histories contain horrible statements of the fiend-like character of John Butler, and his 
unmitigated wickedness on this occasion. They also speak of tlie "monster Brant" [page 278] as 
the leader of the Indians, and the instigator of the crimes of whicli they were guilty. Both of these 
men were bad enough ; but recent investigations clearly demonstrate that Brant was not there at 
all ; and the treaty for surrender, which is still in existance, granted most humane terms to the be- 
sieged, instead of the terrible one reported in our histories. Tlie fugitives who fled over the mount- 
ains, and made their way back to their native Connecticut, crossed the Hudson, many of them at 
Poughkeepsie, where John Holt was publishing a weekly paper. Their fears had magnified events, 
and their tales of terror were published in Holt's journal, and thus became records for future his- 
torians. Among other things, it was related that when the question was asked, on what terms the 
fort might be surrendered, Colonel John Butler, with more than savage cruelty, replied, Tlie Ilaichet! 
This is wholly untrue, and yet the story is repeated in aU our histories. 



1778.] FOURTH YEAR OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 291 

leader, was not there to restrain his savage bands/ and their thii-st for blood 
and plunder soon overcame all their allegiance to their -white commander. De- 
fore sunset they had scattered over the vallej ; and "when night fell uj)on the 
scene, the blaze of more than twenty dwellings cast its lurid glare over the 
paradise of yesterday. The cries of the murdered went up from almost every 
house and field ; and when the moon arose, the terrified inha1)itants were fleeing 
to the Wilkesbarre mountains, and the dark morasses of the Pocono beyond. In 
that vast wilderness between the valley and the Delaware, appropriately called 
the Shades of Deaths many women and children, wlio escaped the hatchet, 
perished by hunger and fatigue. That " Wyoming Massacre," as it has been 
appropriately called, stands out in bold relief as one of the darkest crimes per- 
petrated during the War for Independence. 

In the mean while, Brant' was leading or sending war parties through the 
country south of the Mohawk River ; and the Johnsons' and their Tory adher- 
ents were allies of the savages in the Mohawk valley. On the 11th and 12th 
of November' [17»78],^ a party of Tories, under Walter N. Butler,'' accompanied 
by Indians, under I^rant, fell like lightning upon the settlement of Cherry Val- 
ley. Many of the people were killed, or carried into captivity : and for month? 
no eye was closed in security at night, within an area of a hundred miles and 
more, around this desolated village. Try on county, as that region of New 
York was then called, was a " dark and bloody ground"' for full four years, and 
the records of the woes of the people have filled volumes.^ Our space allows 
us to mention only the most prominent events of that period. 

And now, when the year 1778 — the fourth year of the war — drew to a 
close, the British army had accomplished very little more in the way of conquest, 
than at the end of the second year. The belligerent forces occupied almost the 
same relative position which they did in the autumn of 1776, while the Amer- 
icans had gained strength by a knowledge of military tactics," naval operations. 

• The Indians were led by Gi-en-gwa-tah (he who goes in the smoke), a celebrated Seneca 
chief. * Page 278. = Note 2. page 278. 

* He was a son of Colonel John Butler, and one of the most brutal of the Tory leaders. In the 
attack upon the defenseless people at Cherry Valley, on the lOtli of November, 1778, he was the 
most conspicuous for cruelty ; in fact, he was the head and front of all the villainy perpetrated 
there. Thirty-two of tlie mliabitant.s, mostly women and children, and sixteen soldiers of the little 
garrison there, were kiUed. The whole settlement was then plun- 
dered, and every buildmg in the village was fired. Among the pris- 
oners carried into captivity, were the wife and children of Colonel 
Campbell, who was then absent. One of the children (Judge James 
S. Campbell of Cherry Valley), then six years of age, still [1856] sur- 
vives, and during the summer of 1855, after an absence of seventy- 
five years, he visited the Indian village of Caughnawaga, twelve miles 
from Montreal, where he resided some time %vith his captors. "Walter 
Butler was shot by an Oneida Indian, in "West Canada Creek, and bis 
body was loft to be eaten by wUd beasts. 

^ See Campbell's AnnaU of Tryon County, Sunm's History of Scho- 
fiarie County, Stone's Life of Brant, etc. 

' Among the foreign officers who came to America in 1777, was 
the Baron Steuben, who joined the Continental army at Valley Forge 
[page 285]. He was a veteran from the armies of Frederic the bakox steuben. 

Great of Prussia, and a skillful disciplinarian. He was made Inspector- 
General of the army ; and the vast advantages of his military instruction were seen on the field 
of Monmouth [page 287], and m subsequent conflicts. Steuben died at Steubenville, in the mterior 




292 THE REVOLUTION. [1778. 

and the art of civil government ; and they had secured the alliance of France, 
the powerful European rival of Great Britain, and the sympathies of Spain and 
Holland. The British forces occupied the real position of prisoners, for they 
were hemmed in upon only two islands,' almost two hundred miles apart, and 
each about fourteen miles in length ; while the Americans possessed every 
other stronghold of the country, and, unlike the invaders, were warring for the 
dearest rights of coumion humanity. 

The scene of the most active military operations now changed. In the 
autumn [Nov. 3, 1778], D'Estaing sailed for the West Indies, to attack the 
British possessions there. To defend these, it was necessary for the British 
fleet on our coast to proceed to those waters.*^ This movement would prevent 
any co-operation between the fleet and army in aggressive movements against 
the populous and now well-defended North ; they could only co-operate in act- 
ive operations against the sparsely-settled South. These considerations caused 
a change in the plans of the enemy; and late in November [Nov. 27], Sir 
Henry Clinton dispatched Colonel Campbell, with about two thousand troops, 
to invade Georgia, then the weakest member of the Confederacy. They pro- 
ceeded by water, and landed at Savannah, the capital of the State, on the 
morning of the 29th of December. General Robert Howe^ was there, with only 
about a thousand men, and these were dispirited by the failure of a recent expe- 
dition against Florida in which they had been engaged.'' They defended the 
city nobly, however, until an overwhelming force, by power and stratagem, com- 
pelled them to retire. They then fled, in confusion, up the Savannah River, 
and took shelter in the bosom of South Carolina. The capital of Georgia be- 
came the head-quarters of the British army at the South ; and the enemy re- 
tained it until near the close of the contest [1782], even when every foot of soil 
in the State, outside the intrenchments around the city, was possessed by the 
patriots. 



CHAPTER VI. 

FIFTH YEAR OP THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. [1779.] 

Thickly mottled with clouds of evil forebodings for the Republican cause, 
was the political firmament at the dawn of the year 1779. The finances of the 



of New York, in 1795, and his remains rest beneath a slab in the town of Steuben, abovit seven 
miles ribrth-west of Trenton Falls. ' Manhattan, or York Island, and Rhode Island. 

^ Admiral Hotham sailed for the West Indies on the 3d'of November; and early in December, 
Admiral Byron, who had just succeeded Lord Howe in cliief naval command, also sailed for that 
destination. ' Page 244. 

* A great number of Tories were organized in Florida, and committed so many depredations upon 
the settlers on the Georgian frontiers, that Howe, during the summer of 1778, went thither to dis- 
perse them. He penetrated to the St. Mary's River, in June, where he awaited reinforcements, 
and supplies, by water. Want of co-operation on the part of the governor of Georgia and the naval 
commander, produced much disunion ; and sickness soon reduced the number of effective men so 
much, that the enterprise was abandoned. 



1779.] FIFTH TEAR OF THE WAR FOR IND E P E XDE XO E . 203 

country were in a most wretched condition. Already, one hundred millions of 
dollars of continental money' were afloat without the security of even good 
public credit ;' and their value was rapidly depreciating. "While the amount 
of the issues was small, the credit of the bills was good ; but Avhen new emi;5- 
sions took place, and no adequate measures for redemption Avere exhibited, the 
people became suspicious of those frail representatives of money, and their value 
began to depreciate. This effect did not occur until eighteen months after 
the time of the first emission.^ Twenty n.illions of the continental bills were 
then in circulation, besides a large amount of local issues by the several States. 
It was perceived that depreciation was inevitable, and Congress proposed, as a 
substitute for further issues, a loan of five millions, at an interest of four per 
cent. A lottery had been early authorized, and was now in operation, designed 
to raise a like sum, on loan, the prizes being payable in loan-office certificates,* 
Although these offices were opened in all the States, and the interest raised to 
six per cent., the loans came in slowly. The treasury became almost exhausted, 
the loan-offices were overdrawn upon by the commissioners' drafts, and the issue 
of bills was reluctantly recommenced. 

The financial embarrassments were increased by the circulation of an 
immense amount of counterfeits of the continental bills, by the British 
and the loyalists, which rapidly depreciated the currency. They were 
sent out from New York, literally, by " cart-loads." ^ Congress felt the neces- 
sity of making some extraordinary efforts for redeeming the genuine bills, so as 
to sustain their credit. The several States were taxed, and on the 2d of Janu- 
ary, 1779, it was, hy Congress, " Resolved, That, the United States be called 
on to pay in their respective quotas of fifleen millions of dollars, for the year 
1779, and of six millions of dollars annually for eighteen years, from and after 
the year 1779, as a fund for sinking the emissions," &c. : yet all was in vain; 
prices rose as the bills sank in value, and every kind of trade was embarrassed and 

' Page 245. 

* At this time, wlien Congress could not borrow a dollar upon its own credit, Robert Morri^i 
[page 26-i] found no difficulty in raising millions upon his own. For a long time he, alone, furnished 
the " hard money" used by that body. . ^ Note 3, page 245. 

* On the lirst of November, 1776, the Continental Congress "Resolved, That a sum of money 
bo raised by way of lottery, for defraying the expenses of the next campaign, the lottery to bo 
drawn in Philadelphia" A committee was appointed to arrange the same, and on the 18th, 
reported a scheme. The drawer of more than the minimum prize in each class, was to receive 
either a treasury banlc not?, payable in live years, with an annual interest at four per cent., or the 
preemption of such billets in the next succeeding class ; this was optional with the adventurers. 
Those who should not call for their prizes within six weeks after the end of the drawing, were 
considered adventurer.-? in the next succeeding class. Seven managers were appointed, \\dio were 
authorized to employ agents in different States to sell the tickets. The first drawing was decided to 
be made at Piiiladdphia, on tlie first of March, 1777; but purchasers were comparatively few and 
tardy, and the drawing was postponed from time to time. Various impediments continually presented 
themselves, and the plan, which promised such success at tlio beginning, appears to have been a 
failure. Many purcliasers of tickets were losers; and this, like some other financial schemes of tlio 
Revolution, was productive of much hard feeling toward tiie Federal Government. 

* It was no secret at the time, as appears by the following advertisement in Gaines' New York 
Mercury : " Advertiskmext. Pcr.sons going intbother colonics, may ))e supplied with any number 
of counterfeited Congress notes, for the price of the paper per ream. Tliey are .'^o neatly and exactly 
executed, that there is no risk in getting thorn off'it being almost hnpo.ssible to discover that they 
are not genuine. This lias been proven by bills to a very largo amount, which have already been 
successfully circulated. Inquire of Q. E. D., at the Coffee-house, from 11 A. M., to 4 P. M., durin^- 
the present month. 



294 



THE REVOLUTION, 



[n79. 



deranged. The federal government was thoroughlj perplexed. Only about 
four millions of dollars had been obtained, hy loan, from Europe, and present 
negotiations a]>peared futile. No French armj was yet upon our soil, to aid 
us, nor had French coin yet gladdened the hearts of unpaid soldiers. A French 
fleet had indeed been upon our coasts,' but had now gone to fight battles for 
France in the West Indies, after mocking our hopes with broken promises of 
aid." Gloomy, indeed, appeared the firmament at the dawn of 1779. the fifth 
year of the War for Independence. 

In the autumn of 1778, a plan for invading Canada and the eastern British 
provinces, and for seizing the British posts on the western lakes, had been 
matured by Congress and the Board of War,^ but when it was submitted to 
Washington, his sagacious mind perceived its folly, and the influence of his 
opinions, and tlio discovery, by true patriots, that it was a part of the secret 
plan, entered into by Gates and others, to deprive Washington of chief com- 
mand, caused an abandonment of the scheme. Others, more feasible, occu- 
pied the attention of the Federal Legislature ; and for several weeks the com- 
mander-in-chief co-operated with Congress [January, 1779], in person, in 
preparing a plan for the campaign of 1779. It was finally resolved to act on 
the defensive, except in retaliatory expeditions against the Indians and Tories 
in the interior.^ This scheme promised the most beneficial results, for it would 
be safer and less expensive, than offensive warfare. . During the entire year, 
the principal military operations were carried on in the two extreme sections of 
the confederacy. The chief efforts of the Americans were directed to the con- 
finement of the British army to the seaboard, and chastising the Indian tribes. 
The winter campaign opened by Lieutenant-colonel Campbell' [December 29, 
1778], continued until June, and resulted, as we have mentioned [page 292], 
in the complete subjugation of Georgia to British rule. 

When Campbell had garrisoned Savannah, and arranged for its defense, he 
prepared to march against Sunbury, twenty-eight miles further south, the only 
post of any consequence now left to the Americans on the Georgia seaboard. 
He treated the pcop'c leniently, and, by proclamation, invited them to join the 
British standard. These measures had their desired effect, 
and timid hundreds, seeing the State under the heel of 
British power, proclaimed their loyalty, and rallied be- 
neath the standard of King George. At the same time. 
General Prevost, who was in command of the British and 
Indians in east Florida, marched northward, captured 
Sunbury [January 9, 1779], and assumed the chief com- 
mand of the British forces in the South. With this post 
fell the hopes of the Republicans in east Georgia. In the 




GENERAL LINCOLN. 



' Page 289. ^ Page 289. 

' On the 12th of June, ITTG, Congress appointed a committee, to be styled the "Board of War 
and Ordnance," to have the general supervision of military affairs. John Adams was the chairman, 
and Richard Peters was secretary. Peters was the real " Secretary of War" under the old Confed- 
eration, until 1781, when he was succeeded by General Lincoln. General Gates was chairman in 
1778. * Page'291. " Page 203. 



1779.] FIFTH YEAR OF THE WAR FOR INDEFE NDE NC E. 295 

mean while, General Benjamin Lincoln, of Massachusetts, had been appointed 
[September, 1778J, commander-in-chief of the southern army of patriots.' He 
made his head-quarters at Purysburg [January 6J, twenty-five miles above 
Savannah, and there commenced the formation of an army , composed of some con- 
tinental regiments, new recruits, and the broken forces of General Howe.^ "While 
Lincoln was collecting his army on the Carolina bank of the Savannah, Camp- 
bell marched up the Georgia side to Augusta,' for the purpose of encouraging 
the Tories, opening a communication with the Creek Indians' in the West (among 
whom the British had active emissaries), and to awe the Whigs. At the same 
time a band of Tories, under Colonel Boyd, was desolating the Carolina fron- 
tiers, vthile on their march to join the royal troops. AVhen within two days' 
march of Augusta, they were attacked^ [February 14, 1770] and utterly defeated 
by Colonel Pickens, at the head of the militia of Ninety-six.* Boyd and 
seventy of his men were killed, and seventy-five were made prisoners.' Pick- 
ens lost thirty-eight of his men. 

This defeat of Boyd alarmed Campbell and encouraged Lincoln. The latter 
immediately sent General Ashe, of North Carolina, witli al)out two thousand 
men," to drive Campbell from Augusta, and to confine the invaders to the low, 
sickly sections near the sea, hoping for aid from the deadly malaria of the 
swamps, when the heats of summer should prevail. The British fled [February 
13, 1779] at the approach of Ashe, and were pursued hy him [February 16] 
as far as Brier Creek, about forty miles below Augusta, where he halted to 
establish a camp. There Ashe was surprised and defeated [March 3] by Gen- 
eral Prevost, who, with quite a large force, was marching up the Savannah to 
the relief of Campbell. Ashe lost almost his entire army by death, captivity, and 
dispersion. Some were killed, others perished in the morasses, and many were 
drowned in attempting to escape across the Savannah.'' This blow deprived 
Lincoln of one fourth of his army, and led to the temporary re-establishment of 
royal government in Georgia.'" 

' Benjamin Lincoln was born in Hingham, Massachusetts, in 1733. He was a farmer, yet took 
an active part in public affairs. He joined the continental army in 1777, and rose rapidly to the 
station of major-general. He commanded the militia against Shay's insurgents [See 5, page 353.] 
in 1786. He was also a useful public officer in civil affairs, and died in 1810. ' Page 292. 

^ When Campbell departed for Augusta, Prevost sent Colonel Gardiner with some troops, to take 
possession of Port Royal Island, some sixty miles below Charleston, preparatory to a march upon 
that city. Gardinei- was attacked by General Moultrie [page 249], with Charleston militia, on the 
morning of the 3d of February. Almost every British officer (except the commander), and many 
privates, were killed. Gardiner and a few men escaped in boats, and Moultrie, whose loss was 
trifling, joined Lincoln at Purysburg. * Page 30. 

^ The place of the skirmish was upon Kettle Creek, in Oglethorpe county, Georgia. 

° Page 336. 

' Seventy of them were tried and found guilty of treason, and sentenced to be hung. Only fivo' 
were executed. 

" Lincoln was joined by Generals Ashe and Rutherford, with North Carolina regiments, about 
the first of February, and his army now amounted to little more than three thousand men. John 
-Vshc was born in England in 1721, and came to America when a cliild. He was engaged in the 
Regulator War [page 223], and was one of the most active of the North Carolina patriots. He died 
of small-pox in 1781. 

" About one hundred and fifty were killed and drowned, eighty-nine were made prisoners, and 
a large number, who were dispersed, did not take up arms again for several months. 

*" At the beginning of 1776, the bold Whigs of Savannah had made the royal governor. Sir 
James Wright, a prisoner in his own house ; and the provincial Assembly, assuming governmental 



296 THE REVOLUTION. [1779. 

Prevost now prepared for an invasion of South Carolina. Toward the last 
of April, he crossed the Savannah [April 27J with two thousand regulars, and 
a large body of Tories and Creek Indians, and marched for Charleston. Lin- 
coln had recruited, and was now in the field with about five thousand men. 
preparing to recover lost Georgia, by entering the State at Augusta, and sweep- 
ing the country to the sea. But when he discovered the progress of Prevost, 
and that even the danger of losing Savannah did not deter that active general 
from his attempts upon Charleston, Lincoln hastened to the relief of the men- 
aced city. The people on the line of his march hailed him as a deliverer, for 
Prevost had marked his progress by plunder, conflagration, and cruelty. For- 
tunately for the Republicans, the invader's march was so slow, that when he 
arrived [May 11] before the city, the people were prepared for resistance. 

Prevost, on the morning of the 11th of May, approached the American 
intrenchments thrown across Charleston Neck,^ and demanded an immediate 
surrender of the city. He was answered by a prompt refusal, and the remain- 
der of the day was spent by both parties, in preparations for an assault. That 
night was a fearful one for the citizens, for they expected to be greeted at dawn 
with bursting bomb-shells," and red-hot cannon-balls. When morning came 
[May 12, 1779], the scarlet uniforms of the enemy were seen across the waters 
upon John's Island, and not a hostile foot was upon the Charleston j^eninsula. 
The cause of this was soon made manifest. Prevost had been informed of the 
approach of Lincoln, and fearing his connection with Savannah might be cut 
off, he commenced a retreat toward that city, at midnight, by way of the islands 
along the coast. For more than a month some British detachments lingered 
upon John's Island. Then they were attacked at Stono Ferry, ten miles below 
Charleston [June 20] by a party of Lincoln's army, but after a severe engage- 
ment, and the loss of almost three hundred men in killed and wounded, they 
repulsed the Americans whose loss was greater. Prevost soon afterward 
established a military post at Beaufort, on Port Royal Island,^ and then retreated 
to Savannah. The hot season produced a suspension of hostilities in the South, 
and that region enjoyed comparative repose for several months. 

Sir Henry Clinton was not idle while these events were in progress at the 
South. He was sending out marauding expeditions from New York, to plunder 
and harass the people on the sea-coast. Governor Tryon' went from Kings- 
bridge"^ on the 25th of March [1779], with fifteen hundred British regulars and 

powers, made provisions for military defense [February, ITIG], issued bills of credit, &c. Wright 
escaped aud went to England, lie returned in July, 1779, and resumed his office as governor of 
the "colony." 

' Charleston, like Boston [note 3, page 229], is situated upon a peninsula, the neck of which is 
made quite narrow by the Ashley and Cooper Rivers, and the marshes. Across this the Americans 
had hastily cast up embankments. They served a present purpose, and being strengthened, were 
of great value to the Americans the fiUowing year. See page 310. 

^ Hollow balls or shells of cast iron, filled with gunpowder, slugs, &c. In an orifice communi- 
cating with the powder, is a slow match. This is ignited, and the shell is hurled from a mortar (a 
•short cannon) into the midst of a town or an army. When the powder ignites, the shell is bursted 
into fragments, and these with the slugs make terrible havoc. They are sometimes the size of a 
man's head. ^ Note 5, page 166. ■• Page 248. 

^ The passage across the Harlem River (or as it is sometimes there called, Spuyten Duyvil Creek), 
at the upper end of York or Manhattan Island. 



1779.] FIFTH YEAR OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 297 

Hessians," to destroy some salt-works at Horseneck, and attack an American 
detachment under General Putnam, at Greenwich, in Connecticut. The Amer- 
icans were dispersed [March 2Gj, and Putnam barely escaped capture by some 
dragoons.' He rallied his troops at Stamford, pursued the British on their 
•return toward New York the same evening, recaptured a quantity of plunder in 
their possession, and took thirty-eight of them prisoners. 

On the 9th of May, Sir George Collier entered Hampton Roads. ^ Avith a 
small fleet, bearing General Mathews, with land troops, destined to ravage the 
country in that vicinity. They spread desolation on both sides of the Elizabeth 
River, from the Roads to Norfolk and Portsmouth. After destroying a vast 
amount of property, they withdrew ; and at the close of the month, the same 
vessels and the same troops were up the Hudson River, assisting Sir Henry 
Clinton in the capture of the fortress at Stony Point, and also the small fort on 
Verplanck's Point, opposite. Both of these posts fell into the power of the 
British, after a spirited resistance ; the first on the 31st of May, and the latter 
on the 1st of June. These achievements accomplished. Collier, with a band 
of twenty-five hundred marauders, under Governor Tryon, sailed on the night 
of the 4th of July [1779], for the shores of Connecticut, to plunder and destroy 
the towns on the coast. They plundered New Haven on the 5th, laid East 
Haven in ashes on the Gth, destroyed Fairfield in the same way on the 8th, and 
burned and plundered Norwalk on the 12th. Not content with this wanton 
destruction of property, the invaders insulted and cruelly abused the defense- 
less inhabitants. While Norwalk was burning, Tryon sat in a rocking-chair, 
upon an eminence near by, and vicAvcd the scene with great complacency, and 
apparent pleasure — a puny imitation of Nero, who fiddled while Rome was 
blazing. ■* The Hessian mercenaries generally accompanied these expeditions, for, 
unlike the British soldiers, they were ever eager to apply the torch and abuse 
the inhabitants. They were the fit instruments for such a warfare. When 
Tryon (whom the English people abhorred for his wrong-doings in America), 
had completed the destruction of these pleasant villages, he boasted of his ex- 

' Pago 246. 

" On this occasion he performed the feat, so often related, of descending a steep hill on horse- 
bacl\, making his way, as common liistory asserts, down a flight of stone steps, which had been 
constructed for the convenience of people who had to ascend this hill to a church on its summit. 
The whole matter is an exagge^'ation. An eye-witness of the event says that Putnam pursued a 
zig-zag course down the hill, and only descended four or five of the steps near the l)ottom. The 
feat was not at all extraordinary wlien we consider that a troop of dragoons, with loaded pistols, 
were at his heels. These, however, dared not follow the general. In 1825, when a company of 
horsemen were escorting La Fayette — the "Nation's Guest" — along the road at that place, some of 
them went down the same declivity on horseback. The stone steps arc now [1850] visible in some 
places, among the shrubbery and overlying sod. 

* Page 69. This is a body of water at the conjunction of the James and Elizabeth Rivers, and 
communicating with tlie sea. It is one of tiie most spacious harbors in the world. The village of 
Hampton lies upon its nortliern border. See page 2415. 

■* Alluding to these outrages of Tryon, and the burning of Kingston [page 283] by Vaughan, 
Trumbull, in hi3 WFingal, says : 

" Behold, like whelps of British lion. 
Our warriors, Clinton, Vaughan, and Tryon, 
March forth, with patriotic joy, 
To ravish, plunder, and destroy. 
Great generals ! Foremost in their nation — 
The journeymen of desolation 1" 



298 



tup: revolution. 



[17T9. 




STONY POINT. 



treme clemency in leaving a single house standing on the New England 
coast. 

While these marauding forays were in progress, 
the Americans Avere not idle. They were preparing to 
strike the enemy heavy and unexpected blows. Only 
three days after the destruction of Norwalk [July 15], 
General Anthony Wayne was marching secretly to 
attempt the re-capture of Stony Point, on tlie Hud- 
son. The fort stood upon a rocky promontory, sur- 
rounded by water and a marsh, and was very strong 
in its position. So secretly was the whole movement 
conducted, that the British garrison were unsuspicious 
of danger. At midnight, the little army of patriots 

crossed the morass in the rear, and attacked the fort 
with ball and bayonet, at two separate points, in the 
face of a heavy cannonade from the aroused garrison. 
At two o'clock in the morning [July 16, 1779], Wayne, 
though so badly Avounded in the head by a glancing 
blow of a bullet, as to fall senseless, wrote to Washing- 
ton, " The fort and garrison, with Colonel Johnson, are 
ours. Our officers and men behaved like men who are 
determined to be free.'"' This was considered one of 
the most brilliant events of the war.^ The British lost, 
in killed, wounded, and prisoners, about si.x hundred 
men ; the loss of the Americans was fifteen killed, and eighty-three wounded. 
The spoils were a large amount of military stores. The post was abandoned by 
the Americans, for, at that time, troops sufficient to garrison it could not be 
spared.'' 

The capture of Stony Point was followed by another brilliant achievement, 
three days later [July 19], when Major Heniy Lee,^ at three o'clock in the 
morning, surprised a British garrison at Paulus' Ilook (now Jersey City),' op- 
posite New York, killed thirty soldiers, and took one hundred and sixty pris- 




GENERAL WAYNE. 



' Wayne was liiglily complimented by all. General Charles Lee [page 248], who was not on 
the most friendly terms with Wayne, wrote to him, saying, " I do most seriously declare that your 
assault of Stony Point is not only the most brOliant, in my opinion, throughout the whole course of 
the war, on either side, but that it is the most brilliant I am acquainted with in history. The as- 
sault of Schiveidnitz, by Marshal Laudon, I think inferior to it." Dr. Rush wrote, saying, "Our 
streets rang for many days with nothing but the name of General Wayne. You are remembered 
constantly next to our good and great Washington, over our claret and Madeira. You have estab- 
lished the national character of our country ; you have taught our enemies that bravery, humanity, 
and magnanimity are the national virtues of the Americans." Congress gave him thanks, and a 
gold medal ; and silver medals were awarded to Colonels Stewart and De Fleury, for their gallantry 
on the occasion. Anthony Wayne was born in Pennsylvania in 1745. He was a professional sur- 
veyor, then a provincial legislator, and became a soldier in 1775. He was v6ry active during the 
whole war; and was efScient in subduing the Indians in the Ohio country, in 1795 [see page 374]. 
He died at Erie, on his way home, near the close of 1796. 

- Alter the Americans had captured Stony Point, they turned the cannons upon Fort La Fay- 
ette, upon Verplanck's Point, opposite. General Robert Howe [page 292] was directed to attack 
that post, but on account of some delays, he did not reach there before Sir Henry Clinton sent up 
relief for the garrison. ^ Note 2, page 133. * Note 1, page 94. 



1779.] FIFTH YEAR OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 



299 



oners. This gallant act was greatly applauded in the camp, in Congress, and 
throughout the country, and made the enemy more cautious and circumspect. 
The hero was honored by Congress with thanks and a gold medal. These and 
some smaller successes at about this time, elated the Americans ; but their joy 
was soon turned into sorrow, because of disasters in the extreme East. Massa- 
chusetts had fitted out almost forty vessels to attempt the seizure of a Biitish 
post on the Penobscot River. The assailants delayed more than a fortnight 
after their arrival [July 25] before determining to carry the place by stoim. 
Just as the troops were about to land for the purpose, a British fleet arrived, 
destroyed the flotilla, took many of the soldiers and sailors prisoners, and drove 
the remainder into the wilderness [Aug. 13]. These, after great hardships in 
the forests, reached Boston toward the close of September. 



r 




^-^/^, 



^fyi^^c^ 



The storm of war was not confined to the Atlantic settlements. It burst 
over the lofty Alleghanies, and at an early period, even while it was gatiiering, 
a low, muttering peal of thunder came from clouds that brooded over the far- 
off wilderness of the great valleys of the West. Pioneers from the sea-board 
colonies were there, and they were compelled, almost at the moment of arrival, 
to wage war with the Indian, and hunt savage men as well as savage Iteasts. 
Among the earliest and most renowned of these pioneers, was Daniel Boone, 
the great " Hunter of Kentucky," of whom Byron wrote, 



' Of all men, saving Sylla, the man-slayer, 

Who passes for, m life and death, most lucky, 



300 THE REVOLUTION. [1719. 

Of the great names which in our faces stare, 

The General Boone, backwoodsman of Kentucky, 
Was liappicst among mortals anywhere." ' 

lie went west of the Blue Eidge as early as 1769, and in 1773, bis own 
and a few other families accompanied him to the paradise lying among the 
rich valleys south of the Ohio River.^ From that period until the power of the 
western Indians (who were continually incited to hostilities by the British and 




Tories) was broken by George Rogers Clarke, Boone's life was one of almost 
continual Avarfare with the children of the forest. 

Nor did Boone and his companions measure strength with the Indians alone ; 



' Don Juan, VIII , Ixi. 

" The wife and daughters of Boone were the first white females that set foot in the valleys west 
of the Alleghanies. Daniel Boone was born in Berks county, Pennsylvania, in 1734. While he 
was a smair);)oy, his parents settled on the Yadkin, in North Carolina. When in tlie prime of life, 
he went over the mountains, and became a flimous hunter. Ke planted the first settlement on the 
Kain-iuck-ee River, yet known as Boonsborougli. During the Revolution he fought the Indians 
bravely, and was a prisoner among them for some time, but escaped. He was active in all matters 
pertaining to the settlement of Kentucky, imtQ it became an independent State. Yet he was, by 
the technicalities of law, doomed to be disinherited of every foot of the soil he had helped to 
redeem from the wilderness, and, at almost eighty years of age, he was trapping beaver upon the 
Little Osage River, beyond the Mississippi. He died in Missouri, when almost ninety years of 
age, ui September, 1820. 




Clark's Expedition across the Ijuowned Lands. 



1779.] FIFTH TEAR OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 303 

but in time thej confronted white leaders and white followers. These conflicts, 
however, were only a scries of border forays, until 1778, when Major George 
Rogers Clarke' led a regular expedition against the frontier posts of the enemy, 
in the wilderness in the far north-west, now the States of Indiana and Illinois. 
His little army rendezvoused at the Falls of the Ohio, where Louisville now 
stands, where he Avas joined by Simon Kenton, and other pioneers. From 
thence they penetrated the country northward, and on the 4th of July [1778], 
they captured Kaskaskia.' On the 9th, they took the village of Cahokia, 
sixty miles further up the river ; and finally, in August, the stronger British 
post of Vincennes, on the Wabash, fell into their hands. 

Acting in the capacity of a peace-maker, Clarke was working successfully 
toward the pacification of the western tribes, Avhen, in the month of January, 
1779, the commander of the British fort at Detroit retook Vincennes. With 
one hundred and seventy-five men, Clarke penetrated the dreadful wilderness 
a hundred miles from the Ohio. For a whole Aveek they traversed the 
"drowned lands" of Illinois, suffering every privation from Avet, cold, and 
hunger. When they arrived at the Little Wabash, at a point Avhere the forks 
of the stream are three miles apart, they found the intervening space covered 
with Avater to the depth of three feet. The points of dry land Avere fiA^e miles 
apart, and all that distance those hardy soldiers, in the month of February, 
waded the cold snow-flood^ in the forest, sometimes arm -pit deep ! They 
arrived in sight of Vincennes on the 18th [February, 1779J, and the next 
morning at dawn, with their faces blackened Avith gunpowder, to make them- 
selves appear hideous, they crossed the river in a boat, and pushed toAvard the 
town. On the 20th, the stripes and stars were again unfurled over the fort at 
Vincennes and a captured garrison. Had armed men dropped from the clouds, 
the people and soldiers at Vincennes could not have been more astonished, than 
at the apparition of these troops, for it seemed impossible for them to have 
traversed the deluged country. 

The indignation of the people was fiercely aroused by the atrocities at 
Wyoming and upon the head Avaters of the Susquehanna ; and in the summer of 
1779, General SulliA'an* Avas sent into the heart of the country of the Six Na- 
tions,^ to chastise and humble them. He collected troops in the Wyoming 

' George Rogers Clarke, was born in Albemarle county, Virginia, in 1752, and first appears in 
history as an advi^nturer beyond the Alleghanies, twenty years afterw^ard. Ho bad been a land- 
S'lrveyor, and first went to the Ohio region in 1772. He was a captain in Dunmore's army [note 4, 
page 237] in 1774, and in 1775, he accompanied some emigrants to Kentucky. Pleased with the 
countr}', he determined to make it his home ; and during the war for Independence, ho labored 
nobly to secure the vast region of the west and north-west, as a home for tlie free. Under his 
leadership, what afterward Ijecame the North-west Territory, was disenthralled, and he h;is been 
appropriately styled the Father of that region. He was promoted to the rank of brigadier, after 
serving under the Barou Steuben against Arnold, in Virginia, in 17S1. and at the close of the war 
he remained in Kentucky. He died near Louisville, in February, 1818, at the age of sixty-six 
years. ' » Page 180. ^ Note 3. page 241. 

* John Sullivan was born in Maine, in 1740. He was a delegate in the first Continental Con- 
gress [1774], and was one of the first eight brigadiers in the Continental Army. After being in act- 
ive service about four years, he resigned his commission in 1779. He was afterward a member of 
Congress, and governor of New Hampshire, and died in 1795. 

* Page 25. British emissaries hud gained over to the royal interest the whole of the Six N.\.- 
Tioxs except the Oueidas. These were kept loyal to the republicans, chiefly through the iustru- 




304 THE REVOLUTIOX. [1779. 

Valley ; and on the last day of July, marched up the Susquehanna, with 
about three thousand soldiers. At Tioga Point, he met General James Clinton,^ 
on the 22d of August, Avho came from the Mohawk 
Valley, with about sixteen hundred men. On the 29th, 
they fell upon a body of Indian and Tory savages, 
strongly fortified, at Chemung (now Elmira), and dis- 
persed them. "Without waiting for them to rally, Sulli- 
van moved forward, and penetrated the country to the 
Genesee River. In the course of three weeks, he de- 
stroyed forty Indian villages, and a vast amount of food 
growing in fields and gardens. One hundred and sixty 

GENEKVL Sl.LLl\A^. ^^ 1 1 \ ^ e • xl £ 1 1 A • 

tliousand bushels ot corn m the fields and m granaries 
were destroyed : a vast number of the finest fruit-trees, the product of years of 
tardy growth, were cut down ; hundreds of gardens covered Avitli edible vegetables, 
were desolated ; the inhal)itants were driven into the forests to starve, and were 
hunted like wild beasts ; their altars were overturned, and their graves trampled 
upon by strangers ; and a beautiful, well-watered country, teeming with a 
prosperous people, and just rising from a wilderness state, by the aid of culti- 
vation, to a level Avith the productive regions of civilization, was desolated and 
cast back a century in the space of a fortnight " To us, looking upon the scene 
from a point so remote, it is difficult to perceive the necessity that called for a 
chastisement so cruel and terrible. But that such necessity seemed to exist vro 
should not doubt, for it was the judicious and benevolent mind of Washington 
that conceived and planned the campaign, and ordered its rigid execution in the 
manner in which it was accomplished. It awed the Indians for the moment, 
but it did not crush them. In the reaction they had greater strength. It 
kindled the fires of deep hatred, which spread far among the tribes upon the 
lakes and in the valley of the Ohio. Washington, like Demetrius, the son of 
Antigonus, received from the sa\'ages the name of An-na-ta-kau-les, which sig- 
nifies a taker of towns, or Town Destroyer.* 

mentality of one or two Christian missionaries. After the war, those of tlie Six Nations who joined 
the British, pleaded, as an excuse, the noble sentiment of loyalty. Tliey were the friends of the En- 
glish, and regarded tlie parent country as their ally. When they saw the children of their great 
father, the king, rel^elling against him, they felt it to be their duty, in accordance with stipulations 
of solemn treaties, to aid him. 

' General James Clinton was born in Ulster county. New York, in 1736. He was a captain in 
the French and Indian War, and an active officer during the Revolution. He died in 1812. 

^ The Seneca Indians were beginning to cultivate rich openings in the forests, known as the 
"Genesee Flats," quite extensively. They raised large quantities of corn, and cultivated gardens 
and orchards. Their dwellings, however, were of the rudest character, and their villages consisted 
of a small collection of these miserable huts, of no value except for winter shelter. 

^ At a council held in Philadelphia in 1792, Corn Planter, the distinguished Seneca chief, thus 
addressed Washington, then President of the United States: "Father — The voice of the Seneca 
nation speaks to you, the great counselor, in whose heart the wise men of all the thirteen fires have 
placed their wdsdom. It may be very small in your ears, and, therefore, we entreat you to hearken 
with attention, for we are about to speak to you of things which to us are verj' great. When your 
army entered the country of the Six Nations, we called you The Toivn Destroyer ; and to this day, 
whfn that name is heard, our women look behind them and turn pale, and our children cling close 
to the necks of their mothers. Our counselors and warriors are men, and can not be afraid ; but 
their hearts are grieved with the fears of our women and children, and desire that it may be buried 
so deep that it may be heard no more." 



1779.] 



FIFTH TEAR OF THE T7AR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 



305 




SIEGE OP SAVANNAH. 1779. 



Wliilo these events were in progress at the North, the Southern army, 
under Lincohi,' Avas preparing to attack Savannah, in concert with the French 

fleet, then in the West Indies. During that sum- 

mer. Count D"Est;ung had battled successfully /v 



v/ith Admiral Byron there, and early in Septem- 
ber, he appeared off the coast of Georgia with a 
powerful fleet, prepared to co-operate with Lincoln. 
D'Estaing landed troops and heavy battery cannon 
a few miles below Savannah ; and on the 23d of 
September, the combined armies commenced the 
siege. It was soon perceived that the town must 
be taken by regular approaches, and to that end 
all energy was directed. On the morning of the 4th of October, a heavy can- 
nonade and bombardment was opened upon the Britsh works. It continued for 
five days, but with very little effect upon the strong British intrenchments. 
D'Estaing became impatient of delay," and proposed an attempt to take the 
place by storm. It was reluctantly agreed to, for there seemed a certainty of 
final victory if the siege should continue. D'Estaing would listen to no re- 
monstrances, and the assault commenced on the morning of the 9th of October. 
After five hours of severe conflict, there was a truce for the purpose of burying 
the dead. Already, nearly a thousand of the French and Americans had been 
Idlled and wounded.^ The standards of France and Carolina, which gallant men 
had planted upon the parapet, had been torn down. Yet important breaches were 
made, and another assault promised a sure triumph. But D'Estaing, strangely 
perverse, was unwilling to renew the assault, and made preparations to Avithdraw. 
Lincoln yielded a reluctant assent to the movement, and the enterprise was 
abandoned at the moment when the American commander felt certain of victory.* 
Ten days afterward, the French fleet had left the coast, and Lincoln was re- 
treating toward Charleston. Thus closed the campaign for 1770, at the South. 
The repulse at Savannah was a severe blow to the hopes of the patriots of 
Georgia, and spread a gloom over the whole South. Toward the Georgia sea- 
board, every semblance of opposition to royal power was crushed, and only in 
the interior did armed resistance appear. 

» Page 294. 

^ D'Estaing expressed his fears, not only of the arrival of a British fleet, to blockado his own in 
the Savannah River, but of the autumn storms, which miglit damage his vessels before he could get 

to S'^l. 

' Among the mortally wounded, was Count Pulaski, the brave Pole 
whom wo first met in the battle on the Brandywine [note 5, page 273]> 
He died on board a vessel bound for Charleston, a few days after tho 
siege. Serjeant Jasper, wiiose bravery at Fort Moultrie we have not- 
iced [note 5, page 249]. was also killed, while nobly holding aloft, upon 
a bastion of tlie British works which he had mounted, one of tlic beauti- 
ful colors [note 5, page 249] presented to Moultrie's regiment by ladies 
of Cliarleston. The colors were beautifully embroidered, and given to 
the regiment, in the name of the ladies of Charleston, by Mrs. Su- 
sanna Elliott. Just before he died, Jasper said, "Tell Mrs. Elliott I 
l)st ray life supporting the colors she presented to our regiment." These 
colors, captured during this siege, are among British trophiis in the 
tower of London. Savaimah honoi-s both these heroes by having finely- 
shaded parks bearing their respective names. * Pago 289. 
20 




COUNT PULASKI. 



306 THE REVOLUTION. [1779. 

After the close of Sullivan's campaign against the Senecas, very little of 
general interest transpired at the North, except the -svithdrawal of the British 
troops from Rhode Island, on the 25th of October, 1779. La Fayette had 
been in France during the summer, and chiefly through his efforts, the French 
government had consented to send another powerful fleet,' and several thousand 
troops, to aid the Americans. When informed of this intended expedition, the 
British ministry ordered Clinton to cause the evacuation of Rhode Island, and 
to concentrate, at New York, all his troops at the North. This was accom- 
plished with as little delay as possible, for rumors had reached Rhode Island 
that the new French armament Avas approaching the coast. So rapid was the 
retreat of the British, caused by their fears, that they left behind them all their 
heavy artillery, and a large quantity of stores. Clinton sailed for the South at 
the close of the year [December 25], with about five thousand troops, to open a 
vigorous campaign in the Carolinas. Washington, in the mean while, had gone 
into winter quarters at Morristown,^ where his troops suffered terribly from the 
severity of the cold, and the lack of provisions, clothing, and shelter.' Strong 
detachments were also stationed among the Hudson Highlands, and the cavalry 
were cantoned in Connecticut. 

During this fifth year [1779] of the war for Independence, difiiculties had 
gathered thick and fast around Great Britain. Spain had declared war against 
her* on the 16th of June, and a powerful French and Spanish naval armament 
had attempted to effect an invasion of England in August. American and 
French cruisers now became numerous and quite powerful, and were hovering 
around her coasts ; and in September, the intrepid John Paul Jones' had 
conquered two of her proud ships of war, after one of the most desperate 



' Page 286. * Page 269. 

^ Dr. Thacher, in his Military Journal^ saj's, " The sufferings of the poor soldiers can scarcely be 
described ; while on duty the}' are unavoidably exposed to all the inclemency of storms and severe 
cold; at night, they now have a bed of straw upon the ground, and a single blanket to each man; 
they are badly clad, and some are destitute of shoes. We have contrived a kind of stone chimney 
outside, and an opening at one end of our tents gives us the benefit of the fire within. The snow 
is now [January 6th, 1780] from four to six feet deep, which so obstructs the roads as to prevent 
our receiving a supply of provisions. For the last ten days we have received but two pounds of 
meat a man, and we are frequently for six or eight days entirely destitute of meat, and then as long 
without bread. The consequence is, the soldiers are so enfeebled from hunger and cold as to be 
almost unable to perform their military duty, or labor in constructing their huts. It is well known 
that General Washington experiences the greatest solicitude for the suffering of his army, and 
is sensible that they, in general, conduct with heroic patience and fortitude." In a private 
letter to a friend, Washington said, " We have had the virtue and patience of the army put to the 
severest trial. Sometimes it has been five or six days together without bread, at other times as 
many without meat, and once for two or three days at a time without either. * * * ^vt one 
time the soldiers ate every kind of horse food but hay. Buckwheat, common wheat, rye, and Indian 
corn composed the meal which made their bread. As an army, they bore it with the most heroic 
patience ; but sufferings like these, accompanied by the want of clothes, blankets, &c., will produce 
frequent desertions in all armies ; and so it happened with us, though it did not excite a single 
mutiny." 

^ Hoping to regain Gibraltar, Jamaica, and the two Floridas, which Great Britain had taken 
from her, Spain made a secret treaty of peace with France in April, 1779, and in June declared war 
against Great Britain. This event was regarded as highly favorable to the Americans, because any 
thing that should cripple England, would aid them. 

* John Paul Jones was bom in Scotland in 1747, and came to Virginia in boyhood. He entered 
the American naval service in 1775, and was active during the whole war. He was afterward 
very activ(> in the Russian service, against the Turks, in the .Black Sea, and was created rear-admi- 
ral in the Russian navy. He died in Paris in 1782. 



1779.] 



FIFTH YEAR OF TlfE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 



307 



naval fights ever known. These were the Scrapis and Countess of Scar- 
borough. The conflict occurred in tlie evening, off Flamborough Head, on the 
east coast of Scotland. Jones's ship was the Bonhomme Richard, which had 
been fitted out in France. After much maueuvering, the Serapis and 




Richard came alongside of each other, their rigging intermingling, and in this 
position they poured heavy broadsides from their respective guns. Three times 
both ships were on fire, and their destruction appeared inevitable. A part of 
the time the belligerents were fighting hand to hand upon the decks. Finally, 
the commander of the Seraois was obliged to yield, and ten minutes afterward, 
the Countess of Scarborough, which had been fightnig with another vessel of 
Jones's little fleet, struck her colors. The Rich'wd was a perfect wreck, and 
was fast sinking when the conflict ended ; and sixteen hours afterward, she went 
down into the deep waters of the North Sea, off Bridlington Bay. Jones, with 
his prizes, sailed for llollind, having, during that single cruise, captured prop- 
erty to the value of two hundred thousand dollars.' 

' The naval operations durinn; the war for Independence, do 
not occupy a conspicuous place in history, yet they were b\' no 
moans insignificant. The Continental Conjiress took action on the 
subjoct of an armed marine, in tlie autumn of 1775. Already 
Washinr;ton had fitted out some armed vessels at Boston, and 
constructed some gun-boats for use in the waters around that city. 
These were propelled by oars, and covered. In November, the 

government of Massachusetts established a Board of Admiralty. A committee on naval affairs, of 
which Silas Deane [page 2G6] was chairman, was appointed by the Continental Congress in Octo- 




A GUN-BOAT AT EOSTON. 



OQg THE REVOLUTION. [1770. 

On llic 1:111(1 m America, there had been very little success for the British 
arms • and sympathy for the patriots was becoming more and more manifest in 
Europe. Even a great portion of the intelligent English people began to 
rco-ard the Avar as not only useless, but unjust. Yet in the midst of all these 
difficulties, the government put forth mighty energies— energies which might 
have terminated the war during the first campaign, if they had been then 
executed. Parliament voted eighty-rivo thousand seamen and thirty-five thou- 
sand troops for o-cncral service, in 1780, and appropriated one hundred millions 
of dollars to defray the expenses. This formidable armament in prospective, 
v.-as placed before the Americans, at this, the gloomiest period of the war, yet 
they neither t^uaih'd nor fi\Itercd. Relying lipon the justice of their cause, and 
the favor of a rif^hteous God, they felt prepared to meet any force that Great 
Britain might send to enslave them 



ber 1775. Before the close of the year, the construction of ahnost twenty vessels had been ordered 
by Coiio-ress- and the Marine Gommltteii was so re-oro-anizcd as to have in it a representative from 
each colony. In November, 1776, a Continental Nary Board, to assist the Marine Committee, was 
appointed- and in October, 1779, a Board of Admiralty was installed. Its Secretary (equivalent to 
our Secretary of the Navy) [page o8'2j was John Brown, until 1781, when he was succeeded by 
General MelJoug-al. llob^rt Morris also acted as authorized Agent of Marine; and many privateers 
were fitted out by him on his own account. In November, 1776, 
Congress determined the relative rank of the naval commanders, such 
as admiral to be equal to a major-general on land : a commodore equal 
to a brigadier-general, &c. The first commander-in-chief of the navy, 
or high admiral, was Esck Hopkins, of Rhode Island, whom Congress 
comnussioned as such in December, 1775. He first went against 
Dunmore [page 244] on the coast of Virginia. He also went to the 
Bahamas, and captured the town of New Providence and its governor. 
Sailing for home, he c;iptured some British vessels off the east end of 
Eong Island, and with these prizes, lie went into Narraganset Bay. 
In the mean while, Paul Jones and Captain Barry were doing 
good service, and New England cruisers were greatly annoj-ing 
English shipping on our coast. In 1777. Dr. Franklin, under the 
authority of CongrQss, issued commissions to naval officers in Europe. 
Expeditions were fitted out in I'rench sea-porls, and these produced 
ADMlR.iL HOPKINS. great alarm on the British coasts. 

While these tilings were occurring in European waters. Captains 
Biddle, ifanly. M'Neil, Hinaian, Barry, and others, were making many prizes on the American 
coasts. Finally, in the spring of 1779, an expedilion was fitted out at L'Orient, under the auspices 
of the French and American governments. It consisted of five vessels imder the command of John 
Paul Jones. They sailed lirst, in June, for the Briti.^h waters, took a few prizes, and returned. 
They sailed again in August, and on the 23d of September, while off Ihe coast of Scotlnnd, not far 
above the mouth of the llumlser, Jones, with his llag-ship (the Bonhoinme Richard), and two others, 
fell in with and encountered a small British fleet, which was convoying a number of merchant ves- 
sels to the Baltic Sea, wlien the engagement took place which is described in the text. Congress 
gave Jones a gold medal for his bravery. :Many other gallant acts were performed by American 
seamen, in the regular service and as privateers, during the remainder of the war. The " whale- 
boat warfin-e" on the coast, was also very interesting, and exhibited many a brave deed by those 
whose names are not recorded in liistory — men who belong to the great host of " unnamed demi- 
gods," who, in all ago.s, hnve given their services to swell the triumphs of leaders who, in real 
merit, have often been less deserving than themselves. 

For a condensed aecount of the whole naval operations of the Revolution, on the coast, see sup- 
plement to Lossing's Fxld Book of the Bevulutioii. 




W80.] SIXTH YEAR OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 309 

CHAPTER VII. 

SIXTH YEAR OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. [1780.] 

When, on Christmas day, 1779, Sir Henry Clinton sailed for the South, 
with the main body of his army, he left the Hessian general, Knyphausen,' in 
command at New York. To aid the southern patriots, Washington sent thither 
the Baron Do Kalb^ and others the following spring [1780J, and thus the 
two armies were so much weakened at head-quarters, that military operations at 
the North almost ceased during that year. The Carolinas became the chief 
theater of war, and many and bloody were the acts upon that stage. Invasions 
from without, and the cruelties of Tories' in their midst, made 1780 a year of 
great woe for the patriots and their families below the Roanoke, for they also 
suffered all the horrors of civil Avar. At no time, during the 
whole conflict, were the Tories, or adherents of the crown, more ^"W* >^ i^ 
active throughout the whole country, than in 1780. They ^u_ /.• ^/"^ 
were the most inveterate enemies of the patriots, and the lead- "▼■ V ©^ 
ers were in continual correspondence with each other, with the £fl_ h ti uc 
33ritish government, and with the royal commanders in Amer- (l\ ,-£ >i 
ica. Their correspondence was carried on chiefly in cipher — f*" ^ ^y 
writing, understood only by themselves, so that in the event of ^ /^ ^ 
their letters fallin*; into the hands of the Whi^js, their contents ' /^ 

would remain a secret. These characters sometimes varied, and £j< "Ci ^^J^ 
it was a frequent occurrence for two persons to invent a cipher Sit /.L^ 
alphabet, for their own exclusive use. The engraving shows ''' *'^ *^ 
the alphabet of the cipher writing of some New York Tories. :3y * 71 ^^ 

A fleet, under Admiral Arbuthnot, with two thousand ma- ,' 'W^ k 
rines, bore the forces of Sir Henry Clinton to the southern t *^ ^"^ 

, - . , , • T 1 < ll'lIEU ALPHABET. 

waters. Alter encounternig heavy storms, ^ they arrived on the 
coast of Georgia in January; and early in February [Feb. 10], turned north- 
ward, and proceeded to invest Charleston. Clinton's troops were landed [Feb. 
11] upon the islands below the city, on the shores of the Edisto Inlet, thirty 
miles distant ; but instead of marching at once to make an assault upon the 
town, the British commander prepared for a regular siege. General Lincoln 
w\as in Charleston with a feeble force^ when Clinton landed ; and he was about 
to evacuate the city and flee to the interior, when intelligence of the tirdy plans 
of the British reached him. He then resolved to remain, and prepare for de- 



' Pa<TC 259. "^ Page 316. ' Note 4, page 226. 

* During a severe storm off Capo Hatteras. one vessel, carrying heavy battery cannons, was lost, 
and almost all the cavalry horses of Tarletou's legion, perished at sea Tarleton supplied himself 
with others, soon aftor landing, by plundering the plantations near the coast. 

' During the preceding winter, Lincoln's army had dwindled to a mere handfiil. The repulse at 
Savannah had so disheartened the people, that very few recruits c-ould be obtained, and when Clin- 
ton arrived, Lincoln's army did not exceed fourteen hundred men in number. The finances of the 
State were in a wTetched condition, and the Tories were everywhere active and hopeful. 



aio 



THE REVOLUTION. 



[1780. 



fense. John Rutlc(l<TO,' the governor of South Carolina, was clothed with all 
the powers of an absolute dictator ; and so nobly did the 
civil and military authorities labor for the public good, 
that when the invaders crossed the Ashley [March 29, 
1780], and sat down before the American works on 
Charleston Neck,^ the besieged felt strong enough to 
resist them. In the mean while, the intrenchments had 
l)een greatly strengthened, and works of defense had 
Ijcen cast up along the wharves, and at various points 
around the harbor. Fort Moultrie^ was strongly gar- 
GovERN-oR RUTLEDGE. risoncd, and Commodore Whipple' was in command of 

a flotilla of small armed ships in the harw.jr. 





On the 25th of March, Admiral Arbuthnot crossed Charleston bar, drove 
Whipple's little fleet to the waters near the town, and cast anchor in Five 

^ John Rutledge was bom in Ireland, and came to South Carolina when a child. He was one 
of the most active patriots of the South. After the war he was made a judge of the Supreme 
Court of the United States, and also chief justice of South Carohna. He died in the 3'ear 1800. 

" Note 1, page 296. ' Note 5, page 249. 

* Abraham Whipple was bora in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1733. His early life was spent 
chiefly upon the ocean, and, in later years, he was long engaged in the merchant service. At the 
age of twenty-seven, he was commander of a privateer, and during a single cruise, in 1760, he took 
twenty-three French prizes. He was engaged in the destruction of the Gaspe, in 1772 [page 223]. 
In 1775, ho was appointed to the command of vessels to drive Sir James Wallace from Narragan- 
sett Bay. Ho was active in naval service until the fall of Charleston, when he was taken prisoner. 



1780.] SIXTH YEAR OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 311 

Fathom Hole, not far from St. John's Island. On the morning of the 9th of 
April, he sailed up the harbor, and sustaining but trilling damage from the 
guns of Fort Moultrie, anchored Avithin cannon-shot of the eitj. As Whipple 
could not contend with the strong ships, he sunk several of his vessels near the 
mouth of the Cooper River, and formed a chcvaiix-dc-frise' to prevent the en- 
emy's ships passing beyond the town, so as to enfilade the American works on the 
Neck. Clinton, in the mean while, had erected batteries" in front of these 
works, and both commanders joined in a summons for the patriots to surrender. 
Expecting reinforcements from the interior, the people of the beleagured city 
refused compliance, and for more than a month the siege went on." In the 
mean while, American detachments sent out between the Cooper and Santee 
Rivers to keep open a communication with the interior, were attacked and de- 
feated by parties of British horsemen ;^ and at the close of the month [April, 
1780], the city was completely environed by the foe. Cornwallis had arrived 
[April 18], from New York, with three thousand fresh troops, and all hopes 
for the patriots faded. 

The night of the 9th of May was a terrible one for Charleston. That day 
a third summons to surrender had been refused, and late in the evening a gen- 
eral cannonade commenced. Two hundred heavy guns shook the city with 
their thunders, and all night long destructive bombshells" were hailed upon it. 
At one time the city was on fire in five 
different places. Nor did morning 
bring relief The enemy had deter- 
mined to take the city by storm. The 
cannonade continued all the day, and 
the'fleet moved toward the town to open 
a bombardment. Further resistance 
would have been sheer madness, for the 
destruction of the town and the people 
seemed inevitable. At two o'clock on the morning of the 12th, a proposition 
for surrender was made to Clinton, and his guns were all silenced before day- 
light. At about noon on the 12th [May, 1780], the (Continental troops marched 
out, and laid down their arms, after a gallant and desperate defense for forty 
days. Lincoln and his army, with a large number of citizens, were made pris- 
oners of war. The citizens, and a great number of soldiers, were paroled.* 

He was the first who unfurled the American flacr in the Thames, at London, after the war. Accom- 
panving settlers to Ohio, he became a resident of Marietta, from whicli he sailed, in 1800, down 
the Ohio, with pork and flour, for Havana. He died in 1819, at the age of eighty-five years. 
'.Note 6, page 274. 

* On Saturday mornin2r, the first of Ajiri], the British first broke ground in the face of eighty 
cannons and mortar.s (m the American works. 

* General Woodford had just arrived with seven hundred Yirginian-s, and others from North 
Carolina were reported on tlieir way. 

* On the 1-lth of April, Tarletxm defeated Colonel Huger on the head waters of tlie Cooper 
River, and killed twenty-five Americans. On the 6th of May. a party under Colonel Wliite, of New 
Jersey, were routed at a ferri^ on the Santee, with a loss of about thirty in killed, wounded, and 
prisoners. These British detachments overran the whole country below the Cooper and Santee, in 
the course of a few day.s. * Note 2, page 2.'^6. 

^ A prisoner on parole is one who is left free to go anywhere wthin a prescribed space of coun- 




SIEGE OP CHARLESTON. 1780. 



312 



THE REVOLUTION. 



[1780. 



Altogether, the captives amounted to between five and six thousand;' and 
among the spoils of victory were four hundred pieces of cannon. 

The iall of Charleston, and the loss of this southern army, was a severe 




blow for the Republicans. It paralyzed their strength ; and the British com- 
manders confidently believed that the finishing stroke of the war had been 
given. It .was followed by measures which, for a time prostrated South Caro- 

try, or within a city, under certain restrictions relative to conduct. Prisoners taken in war are often 
paroled, and allowed to return to their friends, with an agreement not to take up arms. It is a 
point of honor, with a soldier, to "keep his parole," and when such a one is again taken in battle, 
durinp; the period of his parole, he is treated not as a prisoner, but as a traitor. 

' In violation of the solemn agreement for surrender, Chnton caused a great number of the lead- 
ing men in Charleston to bo seized, and carried on board prison-ships, wlicre hundreds suffered ter- 
ribly. Many were taken to St. Augustine, and immured in the lortress there. Among other 
prominent citizens thus treated, were Lieutenant-Governor Christopher Gadsden, and David Ram- 
say, the historian, who, with about twenty others, remained in prison at St. Augustine almost eleven 
months, before they were paroled. Both of these men were exceedingly active patriots. Ramsay 
was a native of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, where he was born in 1749. He was educated at 
Princeton ; studied medicine, and became an eminent physician at Charleston. He was an efficient 
member of the Council of Safety when the Revolution broke out, and was also an esteemed legis- 
lator. He was also a member of the Continental Congress. In 1790, he published his History of 
tilt American RevohUion He wrote and puljlished a Life of Washington, in 1801 ; a History of 
South Carolina, in 1808 ; and when he died, from a shot by a maniac, in 1815, he had almost com- 
pleted a History of the United States. Soon after the assembling of the first Federal Congress, under 
the new Constituion, in 1789, Dr. Ramsay sent in a petition, asking for the passage of a law for se- 
curing to him and his heirs the exclusive right to vend and dispose of his books, respectively en- 
titled. History of the Revolution in South Carolina, and A History of the American Revolution. A bill 
for that purpose was framed and discussed. Finally, in August, it was " postponed until the next 
Congress." A similar bill was introduced in January, 1790, and on the 30th of April following, the 
first copyright law recorded on the statute books of Congress, was passed. 



1180.] SIXTH YEAR OF THE WAR FOR INDEPElTDENCE. 313 

lina at the feet of rojal power. With an activity hitherto unusual for the 
British officers, Clinton took steps to extend and secure his conquest, and to 
re-establish royal power in the South. He sent out three strong detachments of 
his army to overrun the country. One under Cornwallis marched up the 
Santee toward Camden ; another under Lieutenant-colonel Cruger, was ordered 
to penetrate the country to Ninety-six,' and a tiiird, under Lieutenant-colonel 
Brown, marched to Augusta," in Georgia. A general truce was proclaimed, 
and a pardon to all who should accept British protection. The silence of fear 
overspread the whole country ; and mistaking this lull in the storm of war for 
permanent tranquillity, Clinton and Arbuthnot, with a large body of troops, 
sailed, on the 5th of June [1780], for New York. 

The last and most cruel blow struck by the British, was that which almost 
annihilated an American detachment under Colonel Abraham Buford. He had 
hastened toward Charleston for the relief of Lincoln ; but when he heard of the 
disasters there, he commenced retreating toward North Carolina. His force 
consisted of nearly four hundred Continental infantry, a small detachment 
of Colonel Washington's cavalry, and two field-pieces. He had evacuated 
Camden, and, in fancied security, was retreating leisurely toward Charlotte, in 
North Carolina. Cornwallis resolved to strike Buford, if possible, and, for 
that purpose, he dispatched Tarleton, with sevon hundred men, consisting of his 
cavalry and mounted infantry. That officer marched one hundred and five 
miles in fifty-four hours, and came up with Buford upon the Waxhaw. Impa- 
tient of delay, he had left his mounted infantry behind, and with only his 
cavalry, he almost surrounded Buford before that officer was aware of danger. 
Tarleton demanded an immediate surrender upon the terms granted to the 
Americans at Charleston. These terms were humiliating, and Buford refused 
compliance. While the flags for conference were passing and re-passing, Tarle- 
ton, contrary to military rules, was making preparations for an assault, and 
the instant he received Bufords reply, his cavalry made a furious charge upon 
the American ranks. Having received no orders to defend themselves, and 
supposing the negotiations were yet pending, the Continentals were utterly 
dismayed by this charge. All was confusion ; and while some fired upon their 
assailants, others threw down their arms and begged for quarter. None Avas 
given ; and men without arms were hewn in pieces by Tarleton's cavalry. One 
hundrer] and thirteen were slain ; one hundred and fifty Avere so maimed as to 
be unable to travel ; and fifty-three were made prisoners, to grace the triumphal 
entry of the conqueror into Camden. Only five of the British were killed, and 
fifteen wounded. The whole of Buford's artillery, ammunition, and baggage, 
fell into the hands of the enemy. For this savage feat, Cornwallis eulogized 
Tarleton, and commended him to the ministry as worthy of special favor. It 
was nothing less than a cold-blooded massacre ; and Tarleton s qunrter became 
proverbial as a synonym to cruelty.^ The liberal press, and all right-minded 

» Page 336. - " Page 336. 

' Stedman, one of Cornwallis's officers, and afterward an eminent English historian of the war, 
Bays, " On this occasion, tlic virtue of humanity was totally Ibrgot." 




314 THE REVOLUTION. [ITSO. 

men in England, cried Sliamc ! After the battle, a large number of the 
Avounded were taken to the log meeting-house of the Waxhaw Presbyterian 
Congregation, where they were tenderly cared for by those who had courage 
to remain. This blow, however, was so terrible, that fear seized the people, 
and women and chihlren fled from their homes in dismay, to avoid falling in the 
track of the invader.' 

Brief was the lull of the storm. De Kalb' did not reach the borders of 
South Carolina until midsummer, and then not an 
American was in arms in the lower country. Although 
Congress had confidence in the skill of De Kalb (who 
by the capture of Lincoln, became the commander-in- 
chief at the South), yet it Avas thought best to send 
General Gates^ thither, because of the influence of his 
name. The prospect before him was for from flattering. 
An army without strength ; a military chest without 
money ; but little public spirit in the commissary 
department ; a climate unfavorable to health ; the spirit 
GENERAL GATES. of tlic Republicaus cast down ; loyalists SAvarming in 

CA^ery direction; and a victorious enemy pressing to 
spread his legions OA'cr the territory he had como to defend, Avere grave obsta- 
cles in the way of success. Yet Gates did not despond ; and, retaining De 
Kalb in command of his division, he pi-epared to march into South Carolina. 
When it Avas knoAvn that he Avas approaching, southern hearts beat high with 
hope, for tliey expected great things from the conqueror of Burgoyne.^ ISIany 
patriots, Avho, in their extremity, had signed "paroles"' and '"protections,"' 
seeing hoAV little solemn promises were esteemed by the conqueror, disregarded 
both, and flocked to the standard of those brave partisan leaders, Sumter, 
Marion, Pickens, and Clarke, Avho noAV called them to the field. Y*liile Gates 
and his army Avere approaching, these partisans were preparing the way for 
conquest. They SAvept over the country in small bands, striking a British 



' Among those wlio fled, was the widowed mother of Andrew Jackson, the seventh President 
of the United States, who, witli her two sous, Robert and Andrew, took refuge in the vicinity of 
Charlotte, North Carohna. The dreadful scenes of that massacre, was the first lesson that taught 
Andrew to hate tyratmy. It fired his patriotism ; and at the age of thirteen years, he entered the 
arui}^ with his brother RoViert, under Sumter. They were both made prisoners ; but even -uiiile in 
the power of the British, the indomitable courage of the alter man appeared in the boy. When 
ordered to clean the muddy boots of a British officer, he proudly refused, and for his temerity 
received a sword-cut. After their release, Andrew and his lorother returned to the AVaxhaw set- 
tlement with their mother. That patriotic matron and two sons perished during the war. Her son 
Hugh was slain in battle, and Robert died of a wound which he received fi'om a British officer v.'hile 
he was prisoner, because, like Andrew, ho refused to do menial service. Th> heroic mother, while 
on her way home from Charleston, whither she went to carry some necessaries to her friends and 
relations on board a prison-ship, was seized with prison-fever, and died. Her unknown grave is 
somewhere between what was then called the Quarter House and Charleston. Andrew was left 
the solo survivor of the family. " Page 316.^ 

^ Horatio Gates was a native of England, and was educated for military life. He was the first 
adjutant-general of the Continental army [note 5, page 238], and was made major-general in 1776. 
He retired to his estate in Virginia at the close of the war. and finally took up his abode in New 
York, where he died in 1806, at the age of seventy-eight years. 

* Pago 281. ^ Note 6, page 311. 



1780.] 



SIXTH YEAR OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 



315 




GENERAL SUSITER. 



detachment hero, and a party of Tories there ; and soon, they so cflectually 
alarmed the enemy in the interior, as to check the onward progress of invasion. 

General Sumter' first appeared in power on the 
Catawba River. Already Whigs, between that and 
the Broad River, led by local officers, had assailed 
the enemy at different points. In the mean while 
Sumter had collected a considerable force, and on 
the 80th of July, he attacked a British post at Rocky 
Mount, on the Catawba. He was repulsed, but not 
disheartened. lie immediately crossed the river, and 
at Hanging-rock, a few miles eastward, he fell upon 
and dispersed a large body of British and Tories, on 
the 6th of August. Through the folly of his men, 

he did not secure a victory. They commenced plundering, and drinking the 
liquors found in the camp, after they had secured it, and Ijccoming intoxicated, 
were unable to complete the triumph. Yet the British dared not follow Sumter 
in his slow retreat. IMarion, at the same time, was smiting the enemy, with 
sudden and fierce l)lows, among the swam})S of the lower country, on the 
borders of the Pedee. Pickens was annoying Cruger in the neighborhood of 
the Saluda ; and Clarke was calling for the patriots along the Savannah, Ogee- 
chee, and Alatamaha, to drive Brown^ from Augusta. 

General Clinton left Earl Cornwallis in the chief command of the British 
army at the South, and his troops on the Santee were intrusted to Lord Raw- 
don, an active and meritorious officer. When that general heard of the approach 
of Gates, he gathered all his available forces at Camden, where he was soon joined 
by the earl. Rumor had greatly magnified the number of the army under Gates. 
The loyalists 1)ccame alarmed, and the patriots took courage. lie came down 
from the hill country, through Lancaster district, and took post at Clermont, a 
few miles north of Camden. Feeling certain of victory, he marched from his 
camp on the night of the 15th of August, to surprise the British at Camden. 
Without being aware of this movement, Cornwallis and Rawdon advanced at 
the same hour to surprise the Americans. A little after 
midnight the belligerents met [August IG, 1780], near San- 
ders's Creek, about seven miles north of Camden, on the Lan- 
caster road. The sand was so deep that the footsteps of the 
approaching armies could not be heard by each other. They 
came together in the dark, alniost noiselessly, and both were 
equally surprised. A slight skirmish between the vanguards 
ensued, and early in the morning a general battle began. 
After a desperate struggle with an overwhelming force, the 




Americans were compelled to yield to the British bayonets in saxders's creek. 



' Thomas Rumter was a native of South Carolina, and was earlv in tlie field. Ill health com- 
pelled him to leave the army just before the close of the war, in 1781. He was afterward a mem- 
bir of the Federal Congress, and died on the High HiUs of Santee [page 337], in 18:52, at tlie age 
of ninety-eight years. ' Page 336. 



316 



THE REVOLUTION. 



[1780. 




HAHON I)E KALB. 



front, and the sabres of Tarleton's dragoons on their flanks. The rout 
became »i-eneral. Tlie militia fell in great numbers, under the heavy blows 
from the British cavalry ; and for more than two miles, along the line of 
their retreat, the open -wood was strewn with the dead and dying. Arms, artil- 
lery, horses, and baggage, were scattered in every direction. More than a third 
of the continental troops were killed ; and the entire loss of 
the xVmericans, in killed, Avounded, and prisoners, was 
about a thousand men, besides all of their artillery and 
ammunition, and a greater portion of their baggage and 
stores.' The British loss was three hundred and twenty- 
five. Among the killed was the brave Baron de Kalb,' 
whose remains were buried at Camden, and there they 
yet lie, under a neat monument, the corner-stone of 
which was laid by La Fayette in 1825.^ 

Having vainly endeavored to rally his flying troops, 
Gates fled to Charlotte,* eighty miles distant. There he continued to be 
joined by officers and men, and he began to hope that another army might be 
speedily collected. But when, a few" days after his own defeat, he received intel- 
ligence that Sumter's force had been nearly annihilated by Tarleton' near the 
Catawba, he almost despaired. That event was a sad one 
for the republicans. Sumter had been ordered, by Gates, 
to intercept a British detachment which was conveying 
stores for the main army, from Ninety-Six.^ He Avas 
joined by other troops sent to assist him, and they cap- 
tured forty-four wagons loaded with clothing, and made a 
number of prisoners. On hearing of the defeat of Gates, 
Sumter continued his march up the Catawba. andt)n the 
18th [August, 1780] he encamped near the mouth of 
the Fishing Creek. There he was surprised by Tarleton, and his troops were 
routed with great slaughter. ]\Iore than fifty were killed, and three hundred 
were made prisoners. All the booty captured by the Americans fell into the 
hands of Tarleton. Sumter escaped, but Avas stripped of poAver. 

With the dispersion of Gates's army, and Sumter's brave band, the victory 
of the British Avas again complete ; and at the close of summer, there Avere no 




COLONEL TARLETOX. 



' General Gates bad felt so certain of victory, tliat he had made no provisions for a retreat, or 
the salvation of Iiis storf^s in the rear. His troops were scattered in all directions, and he, nppar- 
cntly panic-stricken by the terrible blow, fled, ahnost alone, to Charlotte. Even now [185G] bul- 
lets are found in the old pine-trees on the route of their retreat. Gates did indeed, as General 
Charles Lee predicted he would, when he heard of his appointment to the command of the south- 
ern army, " exchange his northern laurels for southern willows." 

* De Kalb was a native of Alsace, a German province ceded to France. He had been in Amer- 
ica as a secret French ajient, about fifteen years before. He came to America with La Fayette in 
1777, and ronp;rcss commissioned hira a major-<reneral. He died of his wounds at Camden, three 
days after the l)attle. ' Pasre 453. ■* Pacre 237. 

' Tarleton was one of the most active and unscrupulous officers of the British army. He was 
distin.auished for liis abilities and cruelties durin? the snutliern campai2;ns of 1780-81. He was 
born in Liverpool, in 1754. He married a daughter of the Duke of Ancaster, in 179S, and was 
afterward made a major-general ^ Page 336. 



1780.] 



SIXTH YEAR OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 



31^ 



republicans in arms in South Carolina, except jNlarion and his men. Withm 
three months [May 12 to August 16J, two American armies had been annihil- 
ated, and one of the most formidable partisan corps (Sumter's) scattered to the 
winds. 




The exploits of Marion' and his men, form the materials of one of the most 
interesting chapters in the history of our War for Independence. lie was in 
Charleston during the long siege, but having been disabled by an accident, ° he 
had retired to the country, and was not among the prisoners when the city 
passed in the possession of the British.' He was therefore untramraoled by any 
parole, and as soon as he was able, he mounted his horse, and took the field. 
With a few ragged followers, equal in grotesque appearance to any Falstaff 



' Francis ifarion was a descendant of a Hna:uGnot [paije 49] scttbr, and was born noar George- 
town, South Carolina, in 17:52. Ilis first military l3sson3 were learned in the war with the Chero- 
kees [page 204], in 1761. He entered tlie armv at the commeneemont of the Revolution, an I wa3 
one of the bravest and most ust-ful of all the pnrtisnn officers at the South. He was also a m^^mber 
of the Sauth Carolina Legislature, during, and after the war. He died at his home, near Eutaw 
Springs, on his beloved Santee, in 1795. in the sixtv-third vear of his age. 

* Marion was dining with some friends at a house in Tndd-'^treet, Charleston, when, on an at- 
tempt being made to cause him to drink wine, contrary to his pr.actieo and desire, he leaped from a 
window, and sprained his ankle. The Americans yet kept the country toward the Santee. open, 
and Marion was conveyed to his home. ' Pago 3 1 1. 



328 THE REVOLUTION. [17S0. 

ever saw/ he was annoying the Tories in the neighborhood of the Pedee, when 
Gates was moving southward; and just before the battle at Camden, he ap- 
peared in Gates's camp. The proud general would have treated him with con- 
tempt, had not Governor Rutlcdge,"" then in the camp, known the sterling 
worth of the man before them. While Marion was there, the people of the 
Williamsburg district, who had arisen in arms, sent for him to be their com- 
mander. Governor Rutledge gave him the commission of a brigadier on the 
spot; and soon afterward, Marion organized that noted brigade, which per- 
formed such wonderful exploits among the swamps, the broad savannahs, and 
by the water-courses of the South. It Avas this motley brigade, only, that 
ai)pearcd in the field, and defied British power, after the dispersion of Gates's 
army at Camden. 

Had Cornwallis been governed by good judgment and humanity, the con- 
quest of South Carolina might have been permanent, 
for the State swarmed with Tories, and the Republic- 
ans were wearied with the unequal contest. But he 
Avas governed by a foolish and wicked policy, and pro- 
ceeded to establish royal authority by the most severe 
measures. Instead of winning the respect of the people 
hj wisdom and clemency, he thought to subdue them 
by cruelty. Private rights Avere trampled under foot, 
and social organization was superseded by the iron rule 
r^T,.. .,..„.. „r.T,,. of military despotism.^ His measures created the most 

LORD COltNW ALLIh. •' •>■ 

bitter hatred; and hundreds of patriots, who might 
have been conciliated, were goaded into active Avarfare by the lash of military 
poAA'er. EveryAvhere the people thii'sted for vengeance, and only awaited the 
call of leaders, to rally and strike again for homes and freedom. 

Now, feeling confident of his power in South Carolina, Cornwallis* prepared 
to iuA^ade the North State. Early in September ho proceeded with his army 
to Charlotte,'^ Avhile detachments were sent out in various directions to awe the 
Republicans and encourage the loyalists. While Tarleton, Avith his legion, 



' Colonel Otho IT. ArVilliams said of his appearance then, that his followers were " distinguished 
by small leathern caps, and the wretchedness of their attire. Their number did not exceed twenty 
men and boys, some white, some black, and all mounted, but most of them miserably equipped. 
Their appearance was, in foct, so burlesque, that it was with much difficulty the diversion of the 
regular soldiery was restrained by the officers ; and the general himself [Gates] was glad of an op- 
portunity of detaching Colonel Marion, at his own instance, toward the interior of South Carolina, 
with orders to watch the motions of the enemy, and furnish intelligentSe," 

"" Page 310. 

' He issued cruel orders to his subalterns. They were directed to hang every militia-man who 
had once served in Ijoyalist corps, but were now found in arms against the king. Llany who had 
submitted to Clinton [page 313], and accepted protection, and had remained at home quietly during 
tlie recent revolt, were imprisoned, their property taken from them or destroyed, and their families 
treated with the utmost rigor. See note 3, page 337. 

* Charles, Earl Cornwallis, was born, in Suffolk, England, in 1738. He was educated for mili- 
tary life, and commenced his career in 1759. After the Revolution in America, he was made gov- 
ernor-general of India [note 2, page 224], then lord-lieutenant of Ireland, and again governor of 
India. He died near Benares, East Indies, in 1805. 

^ Ilis advanced corps were attacked by the Americans under Colonel Davie, on their arrival at 
Charlotte, but after a severe skirmish, the patriots were repulsed. 




17S0.] SIXTH YEAR OF THE WAR FOR IN DEPEND E XC E. 319 

was operating on the east side of tlie Catawba, Major Patrick Ferguson was 
sent to embody the militia who favored the king, among the mountains west of 
the Broad River. Many profligate and Avorthless men joined his standard, and 
on the first of October, 1780, he crossed the Broad River at the Cherokee ford, 
in Yorkville district, and encamped among the hills of King's Mountain, with 
about fifteen hundred men. Several corps of Whig militia united to oppose 
him,' and on the 7th of October, they fell upon his camp on King's Mountain, 
there, a cluster of high, wooded, gravelly hills, about two miles below the 
southern line of North Carolina. A very severe engagement ensued, and the 
British were totally defeated. Ferguson Avas slain," and three hundred of his 
men were killed and wounded. The spoils of victory, which cost the Americans 
only twenty men, were eight hundred prisoners, and fifteen hundred stand of 
arms. This defeat was to Cornwallis, Avhat the affair at Bennington^ was to 
Burgoyne, and it gave the Republicans hope. 

Nearer the sea-board, in the mean while, the patriots were daily gaining 
strength. Marion and his men' were striking the banding Tories here and 
there, and annoying British outposts continually ; while Colonel Pickens and 
Clarke were hourly augmenting their forces in Georgia and south-western 
Carolina. Sumter, too, undismayed by his recent defeat, again appeared in the 
field f and other leaders were coming forth between the Yadkin and Broad 
Rivers. Alarmed by the defeat of Ferguson, and these demonstrations on flank 
and rear, Cornwallis Avithdrew [October 14] to South Carolina, and toward the 
close of October [27th], made his head quarters at Winnsborough, midway 
between the Broad and Catawba Rivers, in Fairfield district. Here he 
remained until called to the pursuit of Greene," a few weeks later. 

Victory after victory Avas achieved by Marion and his brigade, until late in 
October, Avhen they pushed forward to assail the British post at Georgetown, 
for the purpose of obtaining necessary supplies. Hitherto Marion had confined 
his operations to fi^rays upon British and Tories ; now he undertook a more 

' Tliese were commanded by Colonels William Campbell, Isaac Shelby, Benjamin Cleveland, 
John Sevier, Joseph Winston, Charles McDowell, and James Williams. Their united forces 
amounted to nearly eighteen hundred men. 

* On the spot where Ferguson was slain, a plain stone has been erected to the memory of that 
ofBcer, and of Americans wlio were killed. The following inscriptions upon the stone, give the 
names: North side. — "Sacred to the memory of Major William Chronicle, Captain John Mat- 
tocks, William Robb, and John Boyd, who were killed here lighting in defense of America, on 
the seventh of October, 1780." Soidh side. — " Colonel Ferguson, an officer belonging to his Britan- 
nic majesty, was here defeated and killed." Ferguson's rank is incorrectly given, on t!ie monument. 
He was only a major ; but his good conduct was placing him in the way of speedy promotion. He 
wa~s a sou of the eminent Scotch jurist, James Ferguson, and came to America in 1777. He was 
in the battle on the Brandywine, in the autumn of that j^ear [page 273], and accompanied Sir Henry 
Clinton to South Carolina [page 306] at the close of 1779. ^ Page 277. ■• Page 317. 

* Sumter collected a small force in the vicinity of Charlotte, and returned to South Carolina. 
For some weeks he annoyed the British and Tories very much, and Lord Cornwallis, who called him 
The Carolina Game Cock, used great endeavors to crush him. On the night of the 1 2th of Novem- 
ber, Major Wemyss, at the head of a British detachment, fell upon him near the Broad River, but 
was repulsed. J'light days afterward he had a severe engagement with Tarleton, at Blackstock'3 
plantation, on the Tyger River, in Union district. He had now been joined by some Georgians 
under Colonels Clarke and Twiggs. The British were repulsed, witli a loss, in killed and wounded, 
of about throe hundred. The Americans lost only three killed and five wounded. Sumter was 
among the latter, and he was detained from the field several months, by his wounds. 

° Page 332. 



320 THE REVOLUTION. [1780. 

serious business. Tlio garrison -vvas on the alert, and in a severe skirmish with 
a large party near the town, the Partisan was repulsed. He then retired to 
Snow's Island, at tlic confluence of I^ynch's Creek and the Pedee, where ho 
fixed his camp, and secured it by such works of art as the a1«ence of natural 
defenses required. It was chiefly high river swamp, dry, and covered with a 
heavy forest, filled with game. From th:it island camp, IMarion sent out and 
led detachments as occasion required ; and for many weeks, expeditions which 
accomplished wonderful results, emanated from that point. Their leader seemed 
to be possessed of uljiquitous powers, for he struck blows at different points in 
rapid succossiou. The Briti-^h liGcame thoroughly alarmed, antl the destruction 
of his camp became, Avith them, an object of vital importance.' That work was 
accomplished in the S[)ring of 1781, wdien a party of Tories penetrated to 
Marion's camp, during his absence, dispersed the little garrison, destroyed the pro- 
visions and stores found there, and then fled. The Partisan was not disheartened 
by this misfortune, but pursued the marauder some distance, and then wheeling, 
he hastened through the then overflowed swamps to confront Colonel Watson, 
who was in motion with a body of fresh troops, in the vicinity of the Pedee. 

"While these events were progressing at the South, others of great import- 
ance were transpiring at the North. As we have observed,^ military operations 
were almost suspended in this region during the year, and there were no offens- 
ive movements worthy of notice, except an invasion of New Jersey, in June. 
On the 6th of that month (l)efore the arrival of Clinton from Charleston), Knyp- 
hausen" dispatched General Matthews from Staten Island, with about five 
thousand men, to penetrate New Jersey. They took possession of Elizabeth- 
town [June 7], and burned Connecticut Farms (then a hamlet, and now the 
village of Union), on the road from Elizabethtown to Springfield. When the 
invaders arrived at the latter place, they met detachments Avhicli came down 
from Washington's camp at Morristown, and by them Avero driven back to the 
coast, Avhere they remained a fortnight. In the mean Avhile Clinton arriA^ed, 
and joining Matthews Avith additional troops [June 22], endeavored to draw 
Washington into a general battle, or to capture his stores at MorristOAvn. 
Fei<Tnin<T an expedition to the Flighlands, Clinton deceived Washin^rton, Avho, 
Avith a considerable force, marched in that direction, leaving General Greene in 
command at Springfield. Perceiving the success of his stratagem, he, Avith 
Knyphausen, marched upon Greene, Avith about five thousand infantry, a con- 
siderable body of cavalry and almost tAventy pieces of artillery. After a severe 



- Hero was tlio scene of the interview between Marion and a .youngs British officer from George- 
town, so well remembered by tradition, and so well delineated by the pen of Simnis and the pencil 
of AYliito. Tlio officer who came to treat respeetinp: p.risoners, was led blindfolded to the camp of 
Marion. There ho first saw the diminutive form of the great partisan leader, and around him, in 
groups, were his followers, lounging beneath magnificent trees draped with moss. AVhen their business 
was concluded, Marion invited the young Briton to dine with him. lie remained, and to his utter 
astonishment he saw vsome roasted potatoes brought forward on a piece of bark, of which the 
general partook freely, and invited his guest to do the same. ''Surely, general," said the officer, 
"this can not be your ordinary fare!" "Indeed it is," replied Marion, "and we are fortunate on 
this occasion, entertaining company, to have more than our usual allowance." It is related that 
the young officer gave up his commission on his return, declaring that such a people could not be, 
and ought not to be subdued. " Pago 309. ' Page 259. 




Mabion's Encampment ox the Pedee. 



1780.] 



SIXTH YEAK OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 



323 



skirmish at Springfield, the British were defeated [June 23, 1780], and setting 
fire to the village, they retreated, and passed over to Staten Island. 

Good news for the Americans came from the East, a few days after this 
invasion. It was that of the arrival, at Newport, Rhode Island, on the 10th 
of July [1780], of a powerful French fleet, under Admiral Ternay, bearing 
six thousand land trooi)S under the Count de Rochambeau. This expedition 
had been expected for some time, it having sailed from Brest early in April. 




The whole matter had been arranged with the French government by La Fay- 
ette, who had returned from France in May, and brought the glad tidings to 
the Americans. With wise forethought, the relation between Washington and 
Rochambeau had been settled by the French government. In order to prevent 
any difficulties in relation to command, between the American and French offi- 
cers, the king commissioned Washington a lieutenant-general of the empire. 
This allowed him to take precedence of Rochambeau. and made him commander- 
in-chief of the allied armies. Soon after his arrival, Rochambeau, by appoint- 
ment, met Washington at Hartford, in Connecticut, to confer upon their future 
movements. The season being so far advanced, that it was thought imprudent 
for the French army to enter upon active duties during the current campaign, it 



324 THE REVOLUTION. [1780, 

was determined to have the main body of it remain in camp, on Rhode Island, 
while the cavalry should be cantoned at Lebanon, in Connecticut, the place of 
residence of Jonathan Trumbull, governor of that State. That eminent man 
was the only chief magistrate of a colony who retained his office after the change 
from royal to Republican rule ; and throughout the war, he was one of the 
most efficient of the civil officers among the patriots.' 

The arrival of the French caused Clinton to be more circumspect in his 
movements, and he made no further attempts to entice Washington to fight. 
Yet he was endeavoring to accomplish by his own strategy, and the treason of an 
American officer, what he could not achieve by force. At different times during 
the war. the British officials in America had tampered, directly or indirectly, 
with some Americans, supposed to be possessed of easy virtue, but it was late in 
the contest before one could be found who was wicked enough to be a traitor. 
Finally, a recreant to the claims of patriotism appeared, and while the French 
army were landing upon Rhode Island, and were preparing for winter quarters 
there. Clinton w^as bargaining with Benedict Arnold for the strong military 
post of West Point,' and its dependencies among the Hudson Highlands, and 
with it the liberties of America, if possible. 

Avuold Avas a brave^soldier, but a bad-man.^ He fought nobly for freedom, 
from the beginning of the war, until 1778. when his passions gained the mas- 
tery over his judgment and conscience. Impulsive, vindictive, and unscrupu- 
lous, he was personally unpopular, and w^as seldom without a quarrel with some 
of his companions-in-avms. Soon after his appointment to the command at 
Pliiladelphia,^ he was married to the beautiful young daughter of Edward 
Shippen, one of the leading loyalists of that city. He lived in splendor, at an 
expense fixr beyond his income. To meet the demands of increasing creditors, 
he eno-ao-ed in fraudulent acts which made him hated by the public, and caused 
charges of dishonesty and malpractices in office to be preferred against him, 
before the Continental Congress. A court-martial, appointed to try him, con- 



' Jonathan Trumbull was born at Lebanon, Connecticut, in June, 1710, and was educated at 
Harvard College. He prepared for the ministry, but finally became a merchant. . He was a mem- 
ber of the Connecticut Assembly at the age of twenty-three years. He was chosen governor of 
Connecticut in 1769, and for fourteen consecutive years he was elected to that ofi&ce. He died at 
Lebanon, in August, 1785, at the age of seventy-five years. See page 323. 

^ During the spring and summer of 1778. the passes of the Hudson Highlands were much 
strengthened. A strong redoubt called Fort Clinton (in honor of George Clinton, then governor of 
New York), was erected on the extreme end of the promontory of West Point. Otiier redoubts 
were erected in the rear; and upon Mount Independence, five hundred feet above the Point, the 
strong fortress of Fort Putnam was built, whose gray ruins are yet visible. Besides these, an 
enormous iron chain, each link weighing more than one hundred pounds, was stretched across the 
Hudson at West Point, to keep British ships from ascending the river. It was floated upon timbers, 
linked together with iron, and made a very strong obstruction. Two of these floats, with the con- 
necting links, are preserved at "Washington's Head Quarters, at Newburgh; and several links of the 
great cliain may be seen at the Laboratory, at West Point. 

^ While yet a mere youth, he attempted murder. A yoimg Frencliman was an accepted 
suitor of Arnold's sister. Tlie young tyrant (for Arnold was always a despot among his play-fellows) 
disliked him, and when he could not persuade his sister to discard him, he declared he would shoot 
tlie Frenchman if he ever entered the house again. Tlie opportunity soon occurred, and Arnold 
disc]iarg<>d a loaded pistol at him, as he escaped through a window. The young man left the place 
forever, and Hannah Arnold lived the life of a maiden. Arnold and the Frenchman afterward met 
at Honduras, and fought a duel, in which the Frenchman was severely wounded. 

* Note 3, page 287. 



1780.] 



SIXTH YEAR OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 



325 



victed him, but sentenced him to a reprimand only. Although Washington 
performed that dutj with the utmost delicacy, Arnold felt the disgrace. It 
awakened vengeful feelings which, operating with the pressure of debt, made him 
listen with complacency to the suggestions of a bad nature. He made treason- 
able overtures to Sir Henry Clinton, and by a correspondence of several mouths 
(under an assumed name, and with propositions couched in commercial phrases) 
with the accomplished Major Andre,' Clinton's adjutant-general, he bargained 
with the British commander to betray West Point and its dependencies into his 
hands. For this service he was to receive a brigadier's commission, and fifty 
thousand dollars in cash. 




^,cyn<^7^^^^t^ ^^ 




The traitor managed the affair very adroitly. For a long time, Washington 
had been suspicious of Arnold's integrity, but was unwilling to believe him 
capable of treason. Under pretense of having private business in Connecticut, 
Arnold left Philadelphia, passed through Washington's camp on the Hudson, 
and on his return, he suggested to the chief that he would be glad to have com- 
mand of West Point. He made many patriotic professions, and his desires were 
gratifii'd. He was appointed to the command of that post, in August, 1780, 
and thou all his thoughts were turned to the one great object of the betrayal of 



' Arnolil's hand-writing was disfjuised, and he signed his letters Gusiavus. Andre's letters 
were signed John Anderson. A correspondence was carried on between them for more than a 
vear. 



326 THE REVOLUTION. [1780. 

his trust. The time chosen for the consummation of his treasonable designs, 
was when Washington was absent, in September, in conference with the French 
officers at Hartford, Connecticut.' Up to the time of his taking command of 
West Point, Arnold and Andre had negotiated in writing. Thej had never 
met, but now a personal conference was necessary. For that purpose, Andr'i 
went up the Hudson in the sloop of war, Vtdttire, which anchored off Teller's 
Point, just above the mouth of the Croton River. Andre was taken ashore, 
near llaverstraw, on the west side of the Hudson, where, by previous appoint- 
ment, he met Arnold. Before they parted [Sept. 22, 1780], the whole matter 
was arranged. Clinton was to s;iil up the river with a strong force, and 
after a show of resistance, Arnold was to surrender Yv^'est Point and its depend- 
encies into his hands. But all did not work well. Some Americans dragged 
an old iron six -pound cannon (yet preserved at Sing Sing) to the end of Teller's 
Point, and with it so galled the Vulture, that she was driven from her anchor- 
acre, and, dropping down the river, disappeared from Andre's view. He was 
consequently compelled to cross to the eastern side of the Hudson in disguise, 
and make his way toward New York, by land. At Tarrytown, twenty-seven 
miles from the city, he was stopped [Sept. 23] and searched by three young 
militia men," who, finding papers concealed in his boots, ^ took him to the near- 
est American post. Colonel Jameson, the commander, could not seem to com- 
prehend the matter, and unwisely allowed Andre to send a letter to Arnold, 
then at his quarters opposite West Point. The alarmed and warned traitor im- 
mediately fled down the river in his barge, and escaped to the Vulture in safety, 
leaving behind him his young wife and infant son, who were kindly treated by 
Washington.'' 

The unfortunate ]\Iajor Andre was tried and found guilty as a spy, and was 
hanged on the 2d of October, 1780, at Tappan opposite Tarrytown, while the real 
miscreant escaped. Strenuous eflForts were made to gain possession of Arnold, and 
save Andre, but they failed,^ and that accomplished officer, betrayed by circum- 
stances, as he said in a letter to Washington, "into the vile condition of an 
enemy in disguise," suffered more because of the sins of others, than of his own. 
Washington would have spared Andre, if the stern rules of war had permitted. 

' Page 32.S. 

^ .John Paulding, David Williams, and Isaac Van "Wart, all residents of "Westchester county. 
Andre offered them large bribes if they would allow him to pass, but they refused, and thus saved 
their country from ruin. 

^ These papers are well preserved. After being in private hands more than seventy years, they 
were purcliased, and deposited in the New York State Lilirary, in 1853. 

* Washington returned from Hartford on the very morning of Arnold's escape, and reached his 
quarters (yet standing opposite West Point) just after the traitor had left". The evidences of his 
treason were there, and officers were sent in pursuit, but in vain. Washington sent the wife and 
sou of Arnold to New York, whither the traitor was conveyed by the Vulture. That infant, who 
was named James Robertson Arnold, was born at West Point. He became a distinguished officer 
in the Briti-^h army, having passed through aU the grades of office, from lieutenant. On the accession 
of Queen Victoria, in 1835, he was made one of her aids-de-caaip, and rose to the rank of major- 
general, with the badge of a Knight of the Royal Hanoverian Guelphic Order. 

^ Serjeant Champe, of Lee's legion [page 333], went into New York City, in the disguise of a 
deserter, joined the corps which had been placed under Arnold's command, and had every thing 
arranged for carrying off" the traitor, in a boat, to the New Jersey shore. On the very day when ho 
was to execute his scheme, .at night, Arnold's corps were ordered to Virginia, and Champe was 
compelled to accompany it. There he escaped, and joined Lee in the Carolinaa. 



1781.] SEVENTH YEAR OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 327 




CAPTOR'S MEDAL.- 



The young soldier has always been more piticil than blamed ; while the name 
of Arnold will ever be regarded with the bitterest scorn.' Although he did not 
accomplish his wicked schemes, he received the stipulated reward fur his treason- 
able services. And history, too, has given him its reward of recorded shame, 
while those who were instrumental in securing 
Andre, and Avith him the evidences of the foul 
treason, are honored by the nation with its ever- 
lastinir irratitude. Thankful for deliverance from 
the dangers of treason. Congress voted [Nov. 3, 
1780] each of the three young militia men, a sil- 
ver medal and a pension of two hundred dollars a 
year, for life. And marble monuments have been 
erected to their memories ;' while the sentiment of 
sympathy for the unfortunate Andre, has also caused a memorial to him, to be 
erected at Tarrytown, upon the spot where he was executed. 

And now another year drew to a close, and yet the patriots were not sub- 
dued. England had already expended vast treasures and much blood in en- 
deavors to subjugate them ; and, on account of the rebellion, had involved 
herself in open war with France and Spain. Notwithstanding all this, and 
unmindful of tho fact that a large French land and naval armament was already 
on the American shores,* she seemed to acquire fresh vigor as every new ob- 
stacle presented itself And when the British ministry learned that Holland, 
the maritime rival of England, was secretly negotiating a treaty with the United 
States for loans of money and other assistance, they caused a declaration of war 
against that government to be immediately proclaimed [Dec. 20, 1780], and 
procured from Parliament immense appropriations of men and money, ships and 
stores, to sustain the power of Great Britain on land and sea. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

SEVENTH YEAR OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. [17S1.] 

One of the noblest displays of true patriotism, for which the war for Inde- 
pendence was so remarkable, signalized the opening of the year 1781. Year 



' Benedict Arnold was born in Norwich, Connecticut, in January, 1730. He was bred to the 
business of an apothecary, and for some time carried on that, witli booksellinjj, in New Haven. 
Wo have already met him in his career during the war, up to the time of his treason. We shall 
meet him again, in Virginia [page 330], with the enemy. At the close of the war, he went to En- 
gland, then to Nova Scotia, but he was everywhere despised. He died in London, in June, 1801, 
where, just three years afterward, his wife also died. 

* On one s de is the word "Fidelity," and on the other, " Vincit amor patrij;" — "The lovo 
of country conquers." 

^ To Paulding, in St. Peter's church-yard, about two miles from Peekskill, and to Van Wart in 
Greenburg church-yard, a httle more than that distance from Tarrytown. Williams was buried in 
Schoharie county, where a monument is about to be erected to his memory. * Page 323. 



328 THE REVOLUTION. [1781. 

after year the soldiers had suffered every privation, from lack of money and 
clothing. Faction had now corrupted the Continental Congress, and the public 
welfare suffered on account of the tardiness of that body in the performance of 
its leo-itimate duties. Continental money had become almost worthless,' and 
the pay of officers and men was greatly iu arrears. The frequent promises of 
Cono-ress had been as frequently unfulfilled, and the common soldiers had cause 
to be dissatisfied with the illiberal interpretation which their officers gave to 
the terms of enlistment.' They had asked in vain for aid ; and finally, on the 
first day of January, 1781, thirteen hundred of the Pennsylvania line, whose 
time, as they understood it, had expired, left the camp at Morristown,' with the 
avowed determination of marching to Philadelphia, and in person demanding 
justice from the national legislature. General Wayne' was in command of the 
Pennsylvania troops, and Avas much beloved by them. He exerted all his influ- 
ence, by threats and persuasions, to bring them back to duty until their griev- 
ances should be redressed. They would not listen to his remonstrances ; and, 
on cocking his pistol, they presented their bayonets to his breast, saying, "We 
respect and love you ; often have you led us into the field of battle, but we are 
no longer under your command ; we Avarn you to bo on your guard ; if you fire 
your pistol, or attempt to enforce your commands, we shall put you instantly 
to death." Wayne appealed to their patriotism; they pointed to the impo- 
sitions of Congress. He reminded them of the strength their conduct would 
give to the enemy ; they exhibited their tattered garments and emaciated forms. 
They avowed their willingness to support the cause of freedom, for it was dear 
to their hearts, if adequate provision could be made for their comfort, and then 
boldly reiterated their intention to march directly to Philadelphia, and demand 
from Congress a redress of their grievances. 

Finding threats and persuasions useless, Wayne concluded to accompany 
the mutineers. When they reached Princeton, they presented the general with 
a written programme of their demands. It appeared reasonable : but not being 
authorized to promise them any thing, the matter was referred to Congress. 
That body immediately appointed a commission to confer with the insurgents. 
The result was a compliance with their just demands, and the disbanding of a 
large part of the Pennsylvania line, for the winter, which was filled by new 
recruits in the spring.^ 



^ Page 245. Thirty dollars in paper were then worth only one in silver. 

"^ The terms, as expressed, were, that they should "serve for three years, or during the war;" 
that is, for three years if the war continued, or be discharged sooner if the war should end sooner. 
The officers claimed that they were bound to serve as long as the war should continue. 

^ The heatl-quarters of Washington were now at New "^'iudsor, just above the Hudson High- 
lands. The Pennsylvania troops were cantoned at Morristown, New Jersey ; and the New Jersey 
troops were at Pompton, in the same State. * Page 298. 

* Intelligence of this revolt reached Washington and Sir Henry Clinton on the same day. 
Washington took measures immediately to suppress the mutiny, and prevent the bad influence of its 
example. Sir Henry Clinton, mistaking the spirit of tlie mutineers, thought to gain great advantage 
by the event. He dispatched two emissaries, a British sergeant, and a New Jersey Tory named 
Ogden, to the insurgents, with the written offer that, on laying down their anns and marching to 
New York, they should receive their arrearages, and the amount of the depreciation of the Conti- 
nental currency, iu hard cash ; that they should be well clothed, have a free pardon for all past 
offenses, and be taken under the protection of the British government ; and that no military service 



1781.] SEVENTH YEAR GF THE WAR FOR I NDE PEXD EX CE. 329 

On the 18th of January, a portion of the New Jersey line, at Pompton, 
followed the example of their comrades at Morristown. The mutiny was soon 
(pielled [January 27 J, but by harsher means than Wayne had employed. Gen- 
eral Robert Howe' was sent Ijy Washington, with five hundred ni'.'U, to restore 
order. Two of the ringleaders were hanged, and the remainder quietly sub- 
mitted. These events had a salutary effect. They aroused Congress and the 
people to the necessity of more efficient measures for the support of the army. 
Taxes were imposed and cheerfully paid ; a special agent, sent abroad to obtain 
Idlms, was quite successful, ° and a national bank^ was established at Philadel- 
phia, and placed under the charge of lvol)ert iNIorris,'' to whose superintendence 
Congress had recently intrusted the public Treasury. To his effoits and finan- 
cial credit, the country was indebted for the means to commence offensive opera- 
tions in the spring of 1781. He collected the taxes, and by the free use of his 
ample private fortune, and his public credit, he supplied the army with flour 
and other necessaries, and doubtless prevented their disbanding bv their own 
act. 

Let us now turn our attention to events in the South. While half-starved, 
half-naked troops were making such noble displays of patriotism amid the snows 



should be required of them, unless voluntarily offered. Sir Ilcnr^' requested them to appoint agents 
to treat with his and adjust the terms of a treaty ; and, not doubting the success of liis i^lans, he 
went to Staten Island himself, with a large body of troops, to act as circumstances might require. 
Like his masters at home, he entirely misapprehended the spirit and the incentives to action of the 
American soldiers. They were not niercenar}^ — not soldiers by profession, ligliting merely for liire. 
The protection of their homes, their wives and little ones, and the defense of holy principles, which 
t'.ieir general intellig3nc3 understood and appreciated, formed the motive-power and the bond of union 
of the American army ; and the soldier's money stipend was the least attractive of all the induce- 
m?nts which urged him to take up arms. Yet as it was necessary to his comfort, and e^•en his 
existence, the want of it afforded a just pretext for the assumption of powers delegated to a few. 
The mutiny was a democratic movement; and, while the patriot felt justified in using his weapons 
to redress grievanc?s, he still looked with horror upon the armed oppressors of his country, and 
regarded the act and stain of treason, under any circumstances, as worse than the infliction of death. 
Clinton's proposals were, therefore, rejected with disdain. "See, comrades,"' said one of the leaders, 
"he takes us for traitors. Let us show him that the American army can furnish but one Arnold, 
and that America has no truer friends than we." Tliey immediately seized the emissaries, who, 
being delivered, with Glintoa's papers, into the hands of Wayne, Avere tried and executed as spies, 
and the reward wliich had been offered for their apprehension was tendered to the mutineers who 
seized them. They sealed the pledge of their patriotism by nobly refusing it, saying, " Necessity 
wrung from us the act of demanding justice from Congress, but we desire no reward for doing our 
duty to our bleeding country !" A committee of Congress, appointed to report on the condition of 
the army, said, a short time preAnous to this event, that it was " unpaid for five months ; tliat it 
seldom liad more than six days' provisions in advance, and was, on several occasions, for sundry 
successive days, without meat ; that the medical department had neither sugar, coffee, tea, choco- 
late, wine, nor spirituous liquors of any kind, and that every department of the army was witliout 
money, and had not even the shadow of credit left." ' Page 292. 

* Colonel .John Laurens [See page 348], a son of Henry Laurens [page ."^48], had been sent 
to France to ask for aid. Whilo earnestly pressing his suit, with ^'ergennes, the French minister, 
one day, that ofUcial said, that the king had every disposition to favor the United States. This 
patronizing expression kindled tlie indignation of the young diplomati.st, and he replied with empha- 
sis, " Favor, sir ! The respect wliich I owe to my country will not admit the terui. Say that the 
obligition is mutual, and 1 will acknowledge the obhgation. But, as the last argument I shall offer 
to your Excellency, the sword which I now wear in defense of Franec\ as well as my own country, 
unless the succor I solicit is immediately accorded, I may be compelled, within a short time, to draw 
ag.ainst Franco, as a British subject." This had the eifect intended. Th^^ French dreaded a reeon- 
ciiiatioa of the colonics with Great Britain, and soon a subsid)' of one million two hundred thousand 
dollars, and a further sum, as a loan, was granted. The French minister also gave a guaranty for 
a Dutch loan of about two millions of dollars. 

^ This was called the Bank of North America, aud was the first instituti;M) of ih • kind ostab- 
lished in this country. * Page 2G4. 



ggQ THE REVOLUTION. [1T81. 

of New Jersey, Arnold, the arcli-traitor,' now engaged in the service of his 
rojal master, was commencing a series of depredations upon lower Virginia, 
with about sixteen hundred British and Tory troops, and a few armed vessels. 
He arrived at Hampton Roads' on the 30th of December. Anxious to distin- 
guish himself, ho pushed up the James River, and after destroying [January 5, 
1781] a large (ptantity of public and private stores at Richmond, and vicinity, 
he went to Portsmouth [Jan. 20], opposite Norfolk, and made that his head- 
quarters. Great efforts were made by the Americans to seize and punish the 
traitor. The Virt^inia militia men were collected in great numbers, for the 
purpose • and Jefferson, then governor of that State, offered a reward of five 
thousand guineas for his capture.' La Fayette was sent into Virginia, with 
twelve hundred men, to oppose him ; and a portion of the French fleet went 
[March 8, 1781] from Rhode Island, to shut him up in the Elizabeth River, 
and assist in capturing him. But all these efforts failed. He was brave, vigil- 
ant and exceedingly cautious. Admiral Arbuthnot* pursued and attacked the 
French fleet on the 16th of March, and compelled it to return to Newport; and 
General Phillips soon afterward joined Arnold [March 261, wnth more than 
two thousand men, and took the chief command. In April, the traitor accom- 
panied Phillips on another expedition up the James River, and after doing as 
much mischief as possible between Petersburg and Richmond, he returned to 
New York.' We shall meet Arnold presently on the New England coast." 

During the year 1781, the southern States became the most important 
theater of military operations. General Greene'' was appointed, on the 30th of 
October, 1780, to succeed General Gates in the direction of the southern army. 
He first proceeded to Hillsborough, to confer with Governor Nash, and other 
civil ofiiccrs of North Carolina, and arrived at the head-quarters of the army, 
at Chai^otte, on the second of December. On the following day he took formal 
command, and Gates immediately set out for the head-quarters of Washington, 
in East Jersey, to submit to an inquiry into his conduct at Camden,^ which 
Congress had ordered. Greene, with his usual energy, at once prepared to 
confront or pursue the enemy, as occasion might require. He arranged his 
little army into two divisions. With the main body he took post at Cheraw, 
east of the Pedee, and General Morgan was sent with the remainder (about 
a thousand strong) to occupy the country near the junction of the Pacolet and 
Broad Rivers. Cornwallis, who was just preparing to march into North Car- 

' Page 325. ^ Page 243. = Page 326. " Page 310. 

^ General Phillips sickened and died at Petersburg. Lord Cornwallis, who arrived from North 
Carolina soon afterward [page 338] took the chief command. In a skirmish, a short distance from 
Petersburg, on the 27th of April [1781], in which Arnold was engaged, he took some Americana 
prisoners. To one of them he put the question, "If the Americans should catch me, what would 
they do to me?" The soldier promptly replied, "They would bury with military honors the leg 
which was wounded at Saratoga, and hang the remainder of you upon a gibbet." 

^ Page 340. 

' Nathanial Greene was bom, of Quaker parents, in Rhode Island, in 1740. He was an anchor- 
smith, and was pursuing his trade when the Revolution broke out. He hastened to Boston after 
the skirmish at Lexington, and from that time until the close of the war, he was one of the most 
usefiil ofScers in the army. He died near Savannah, in June, 1786, and was buried in a vault m 
that city. His sepulchre can not now be identified. No living person knows in what vault his 
remains were deposited, and there is no record to cast light upon tlio question. * Page 315. 



1781.] SEVENTH YEAR OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. ggl 



olina again,' when Greene made this disposition of his army, found himself in 
a dangerous position, for he was placed between the two divisions. Unwilling 
to leave Morgan in his rear, he sent Tarleton to capture or disperse his com- 




L^-^^ 



mand. The Americans retreated before this superior force, but were overtaken 
at the Cowpens. in Spartanburg district, and compelled to fight.'* There, well 
posted upon an eminence, Morgan' and his brave follow- 
ers turned upon their pursuers. Tarleton was discon- 
certed bj this movement, for he expected to overtake the 
Americans while on the wing ; yet, feeling confident of 
an easy victory, he quickly arranged his line in battle 
order. It was now nine o'clock in the morning [January 
17, 1781]. At a signal from Tarleton, his advance gave 
a shout, and rushed furiously to the contest, under cover 
of artillery, and an incessant discharge of musketry. 




GENERAL MORGAN. 



' Page 318. 

^ The scene of the battle is among the Thieketty Mountains, west of the Broad River. It was 
called Cowpens from the fact, that some time before the Revolution, some traders at Camden kept 
herds of cows in that fertile region. 

^ Daniel Morgan, commander of the famous rifle corps of the Revolution, was born in New Jer- 
sey, in 1738, and was in the humble sphere of a wagoner, when called to the field. He had been 
a soldier under Braddock, and joined Washington at Cambridge, in 1775. He served with distinc- 
tion in the army of the Revolution, and was a farmer in Virginia after the war, where he died ui 
1802. 




3J32 THE REYOLUTION. [1781. 

Tlie Americans were prepared to receive them, and combatted with them for 
more than two hours, with skill and 1)raverj. The British were defeated, with 
a loss of almost three hundred men in killed and 
wounded, five hundred made piisoncrs, and a large quan- 
tity of arms, ammunition, and stores. It was a brilliant 
victory ; and Congress gave Morgan a gold medal, as a 
token of its approbation. Colonels Howard' and Wash- 
ington,' whose soldierly conduct won the battle, received 
each a silver medal. 

^Vlicn the battle was ended, Morgan pushed forward 
COLONEL w.^sHiNaTON. ^^j^j^ j^-^ prigouers, intending to cross the Catawba, and 

make his way toward Virginia. Cornwallis started in pursuit of him, as soon 
as he heard of the defeat of Tarleton. He destroyed his heavy baggage, and 
hastened with liis whole army toward the Catawba to intercept Morgan and 
his prisonei'S, before they shoukl cross that stream. But he was too late. He 
did not reach that rivjr until in the evening, two hours after Morgan had 
crossed. Then feeling confident of his prey, he deferred his passage of the 
stream until morning. A heavy rain during the night filled the river to its 
brim ; and Avhile the British were detained by the flood, Morgan had reached 
the banks of the Yadkin, where he was joined by General Greene and his escort. 
One of the most remarkal)le military movements on record, now occurred. 
It was the retreat of the American army, under Greene, from the Catawba, 
through North Carolina, into Virginia. When the waters of the Catawba had 
subsided, the next day, Cornwallis crossed, and resumed his pursuit. He 
reached the Avestern bank of the Yadkin on the 3d of February [1781], just as 
the Americans were safely landed on the eastern shore. There he was again 
arrested in his progress by a sudden swelling of the floods. Onward the patriots 
pressed, and soon again Cornwallis was in full chase. At Guilford Court-house, 
the capital of Guilford county, Greene was joined [February 7], by his main 
body from Cheraw,^ and all continued the flight, for they were not strong 
enough to turn and fight. After many hardships and narrow escapes during 
the retreat, the Americans reached the Dan on the 13th of February, and 

' John Eager Howard, of the Maryland line. He was bom in Baltimore county in 1752. Ho 
■went into military service at the commencement of the war. He was in all the principal battles of 
the Revolution, was chosen governor of Maryland in 1778, was afterwad United States Senator, and 
died m October, 1827. 

^ William Washington, a relative of the general. He was born in Stafford county, Virginia. 
He entered the army under Mercer, who was killed at Princeton [page 269], and greatly distin- 
guished himself at the South, as a commander of a corps of cavalry. Taken prisoner at Eutaw 
Springs [page 338], he remained a captive till the close of the war, and died in Charleston, in 
March, 1810. In a personal combat -with Tarleton in the battle at the Oowpens, Washington 
wounded his antagonist in his hand. Some months afterward, Tarleton said, sneeriugly, to Mrs. 
Willie Jones, a witty American lady, of Halifox, North Carolina, " Colonel Washington, I am told, 
is illiterate, and can not write his own name." "Ah! colonel." said Mrs. Jones, '-you ought to 
know better, for you bear evidence that he can make his marlc.''' At another time he expressed a 
desire to see Colonc^l Washington. Mrs. Ashe, Mrs. Jones's sister, instantly replied, " Had you 
looked behind you at the Cowpens you might have had that pleasure." Stung by this keen wit, 
Tarleton placed his baud upon his sword. General Leslie [page 347], who was present, remarked, 
" Say what you please, Mrs. Ashe ; Colonel Tarleton knows better than to insult a lady in my 
presence." 3 TageSSO. 



1781.] SEVENTH YEAR OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 333 



crossed its rising waters safelj into the friendly bosom of Halifax county, in 

Virginia, When Cornwallis arrived, a few hours later [February 14], ihv. 

stream was too much swollen to allow him to cross. For the third time th(^ 

waters, as if governed by a special I'rovideiice, interposed a barrier between 

the pursuers and the pursued. jNlortified and dispirited, the earl here aban- 
doned the chase, and moving sullenly southward through iS^orth Carolina, he 

established his camp at Hillsborough. 

General Greene remained in Virginia only long enough to refresh his troops, 

and receive recruits,' and then he re- crossed the Dan 

[February 20], to oppose Cornwallis in his efforts to 

embody the loyalists of North Carolina under the royal 

banner. Colonel Lee,' with his cavalry, scoured the 

country around the head waters of the HaAv and Deep 

Rivers, and by force and stratagem foiled the efforts 

of Tarleton, who was recruiting in that region. On one 

occasion he defeated and dispersed [March 2] a body of 

three hundred loyalists under Colonel Pyle,^ near the 

Alamance Creek, after which the Tories kept quiet, and 

very few dared to take up arms. Greene, in the mean 

while, had moved cautiously forward, and on the first 

of iNIarch [1781], he found himself at the head of almost five thousand troops. 

Feeling strong enough now to cope with Cornwallis, he sought an engagement 

with him, and on the 15th they met, and fiercely contended, near Guilford 
Court-house, about five miles from the present village of 
Grecnsborough, in Guilford county, North Carolina.. 
That battle, which continued for almost two hours, was 
one of the severest of the war. Although the Americans 
were repulsed and the British became masters of the field, 
the victory was almost as destructive for Cornwallis as a 
defeat. " Another such victory," said Charles Fox in the 
British House of Conunons, " will ruin the British army."'* 
Both parties suffered severely ; and, in some degree, the 
line of the Scotch ballad might be applied to them : 




COLONEL, HENRY LEE. 




BATTLE OF GUILFORD. 



" They baitli did fight, they baith did beat, they baith did riu awa.' 



' On his way south, to take command of the southern army, lie loft tlie Baron Bteuben [page 
291] in Virginia, to gather recruits, provisions, &c., and forward tluuu to him Tliis service tho 
Baron performed with effieioncy. 

* Henry Lee was born in Virginia, in 1756. He entered the military service as captain of a 
Virginia company in 1776, and in 1777 joined the continental armj^ At the head of a legion, ho 
performed extraordinary services during the war, especially at the South. He was afterward gov- 
ernor of Virginia, and a member of Congress. He died in 1818. 

^ Lee sent two young countrymen, whom he had captured, to tlie camp of Pyle, to inform that 
leader that Tarleton was approaching, and wislied to meet liim. Pyle had never seen Tarleton, and 
wlien he came up he supposed Lee and his party to bo that of the renowned British officer. 
Friendly salutations were expressed, and at a word, tlie Americans fell upon the loyalists, killed 
ahnost a Imndred of tliem, and dispersed the remainder. This event took place two or three miles 
from tlie scene of the Regulator battle mentioned on page 223. 

* That statesman moved in committee, "That his majesty's ministers ought immediately to tako 
every possible means for concluding peace with our American colonies." Young William Pitt, the 




334 TH^ REVOLUTIOISr. [1781. 

The battalions of Cornwallis "were so shattered/ that he could not maintain 
the advantage he had gained ; while the Americans retreated in good order to 
the Reedy Fork. Thoroughly dispirited, ho abandoned Western Carolina, and 
moved [March lOJ with his whole army, to Wilmington, near the sea-board. 
Greene rallied his forces and pursued the British as far as Deep River, in 
Chatham county. There he relinquished the pursuit, and prepared to re-enter 
South Carolina. 

Lord Rawdon," one of the most efficient of Cormvallis's chief officers, was 
now in command of a British force at Camden. On the 6th of April, Greene 
marched directly for that place, and on the 19th, he 
encamped on Hobkirk's Hill, about a mile from Rav,don"s 
intrenchments. Six days afterward [April 2.5, 1781], he 
was surprised' and defeated by Rawdon, after a sharp battle 
for several hours, in which the Americans lost, in killed, 
wounded, and missing, two hundred and sixty-six men. 
The British lost two hundred and fifty-eight.* The British 
retired to their works at Camden, and Greene, with his 
little army, encamped for the night on the north side of 
Sanders's Creek. ^ Greene conducted his retreat so well, 
that he carried away all his artillery and baggage, with 
fifty British prisoners, who were captured by Colonel Washington.'' 

This defeat was unexpected to Greene,' yet he was not the man to be 

successor of his father, the Earl of Chatham, inveighed eloquently against a further prosecution of 
the war. Ho averred that it was "wicked, barbarous, unjust, and diaboheal — conceived in injust- 
ice, nurtured in folly — a monstrous thing that contained every characteristic of moral dcpravit}^ and 
human turpitude — as mischievous to the unhappy people of lingiaud as to the Americans." Yet, 
as in former years, the British government was bUnd and stubborn still. 

* The Americans lost in killed and wounded, about four hundi-cd men, besides almost a thousand 
who deserted to their homes. The loss of the IBritish was over six hundred. Among the ofiBcers 
who were killed was Lieutenant-Colonel Webster, who was one of the most efficient men in the 
British army. On this occasion, Greene's force was much superior in nmnber to that of Cornwallis, 
and he had every advantage of position. Events such as are generally overlooked by the historian, 
but which exhibit a prominent trait in the character of the people of North Carolina, occurred during 
this battle, and deserve great prominence in a description of the gloomy picture, for they form 
a few touches of radiant light in tlie midst of the sombre coloring. While the roar of cannon 
boomed over the countrj', groups of women, in the Buffalo and Alamance congregations, who were 
under the pastoral charge of the Reverend Dr. Caldwell, miglit have been seen engaged in common 
prayer to the God of Hosts for his protection and aid ; and in many places, the solitary voice of a 
pious woman went up to the Divine Ear, with the earnest pleadings of faith, for the success of tho 
Americans. The batthng hosts were surrounded by a cordon of! praying ivonien during those dread- 
ful hours of contest. ^ Page 315. 

^ Greene was breakfasting at a spring on the eastern slope of Hobkirk's Hill, when Rawdon's 
army, by a circuitous rout through a forest, fell upon him. Some of his men were cleaning their 
guns, others were washing their clothes, and all were unsuspicious of danger. 

* Tho number killed was remarkably small. Only eighteen of the Americans, and thirty-eight 
of the British, were slain on the battle-field. ^ Page 315. 

* He had captured two hundred, but hastily paroling tho officers and some of the men, he took 
«jnly fifty with him. 

' Greene had some desponding views of the future at this time. To Luzerne, tho French min- 
ister at Philadelphia, he earnestly wrote : '• This distressed country cannot struggle much longer 
without more effectual support. * * * "^'e fight, get beaten, rise, and fight again. The whole 
country is one continued scene of blood and slaughter." To La Payette, he wrote : " You may 
depend upon it, that nothing can equal the sufferings of our little army, but their merit." To Gov- 
ernor Reed, of Pennsylvania, he wrote: "If our good friends, the French, cannot lend a helping 
hand to save these sinking States, they must and will fall." At that time, the French army Imd 
remained for several months inactive, in New England. 



1781.] 'seventh tear OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 335 

crushed bj adversity. On the morning succeeding the battle, he retired as far 
as Rugeley's Mills, and then crossing the "Wateree, he took a strong position 
for offensive and defensive operations. The two armies were now about equal 
in numbers, and Greene's began to. increase. Alarmed by this, and for the 




safety of bis posts in the lower country, Rawdon sot fire to Camden and 
retreated [May 10, 1781 J to Nelson's Ferry, on the Santee. He had ordered 
Lieutenant-Colonel Cruger' to abandon Ninety-six^ and join Brown at Augusta,' 
and had also directed INIaxwell, the commander of Fort Granby,* to leave that 
post, and retire to Orangeburg,^ on the North Edisto. But his orders and his 
movements were made too late. Within the space of a week, four important 
posts fell into the hands of the Americans," and Greene was making rapid marches 
toward Ninety-six. Lee had pressed forward and co-operated with Pinckney in 

' Page 313. 

' So called because it was ninety-six miles from the frontier fort, Prince George, on the Kcowce 
River. Its site is occupied by the pleasant village of Cambridge, in Abbeville District, one hundred 
and forty-seven miles north-west from Charleston. ' Page 313. 

* On the western side of the Congaree, two miles from the present city of Columbia, South 
Carolina. 

^ On the east bank of the North E.listo. about sixty-five milos south of Columbia. 

* Loe and Marion were the principal loaders against these posts. Orangeburg was taken on the 
11th of May; Fort Motte on the 12th; the post at Nelson's Ferry on the 14th, and Fort. Granhy on 
the 16th. Fort "Watson, situated on the Santee, a few miles above Nelson's Forry, was taken on 
the 16th of April. Nelson's Ferry is at the mouth of Eutaw Creek, on the Santee, about fifty miles 
from Charleston. Fort Motte was near the junction of the Wateree and Congaree Rivers, and was, 
because of its geojrraphical position, the most important of all those posts. It was com]wsed of the 
fine residence of Rebecca Motto (a widowed mother, with «iK children), and temporary fortifications 
constructed around it. Mrs. Motte, who was an ardent Whitr, had been driven to her farm-house 
upon an eminence near by. Marion and Lee appeared before Fort Motte with a considerable force, 
but having only one piece of artillery, could make but sUght impression. The expected approach 



336 



THE REVOLUTION. 



[1781. 



holding the countrj-between Ninetj-six and Augusta, to prevent a junction of 
the garrisons at either of those pLices ; and thus, hy skillful operations, the 
Americans completely paralyzed the lately potent strength of the enemy. At 
the be^-inniu'i- of June [1781], the British possessed only three posts in South 
Carolina, namely, Charleston, Nelson's Ferry, and Ninety-six. 

On the 22d of May [1781], Greene commenced the siege of Ninety-six,' 
with less than a thousand regulars and a few raw militia. Kosoiuszko." the 
brave Pole, was his chief engineer, and the post being too strong to be captured 
by assault, the Americans commenced making regular ap- 
proaches, by parallels. ^ Day after day the Avork went 
slowly on, varied by an occasional sortie. For iilmost a 
month, tlie efforts of the Americans were unavailing. Then 
hearing of the approach of Rawdon, with a strong force, to 
the relief of Cruger, they made an unsuccessful effort, on 
the 18th of June, to take the jilacc by storm. They raised 
FORT KixETY-six. thc slcgc thc followiug evening [June 19], and retreated 
beyond the Saluda. Rawdon pursued them a short distance, when he wheeled 
and marched to Orano;ebur<T. 

Although unsuccessful at Ninety-six, detachments of the Republican army 
were victorious elsewhere. While this siege was pro- 
gressing, Leo and Pickens, with Clarke and others of 
Georgia, were makinif; successful efforts on the Savan- 
nah River. Lee captured Fort Galphin, twelve miles 
below Augusta, on the 21st of IMay, and then he sent 
an officer to that post, to demand of BroAvn an instant 
surrender of his garrison. Bi'own refused, and thc 
siege of Augusta was commenced on the 23d. It 
continued until the 4th of June, when a general as- 

' ° GENERAL PICKENS. 





of Rawdon, would not allow them to make the slow process of a regular siege. Lee proposed to 
burl some burning missile upon the building, and consume it. To this destruction of her property, 
ill's. Motte at once consented, and bringing out a bow and some arrows, which had been brouglit 
from the East Indies, these were used successfuhy for the purpose of conveying fii'e to the dry roof. 
The house was partially destroyed, when the British surrendered. The patriotic lady then regaled 
both the American and British officers with a good dinner at her own table. Colonel Hoiry (one 
of Marion's officers), m his narrative, mentions some pleasing incidents which occurred at the table 
of Mrs. Motte, on this occasion. Among the prisoners was Captain Ferguson, an officer of consider- 
able reputation. Finding himself near Horry, Ferguson said, "You are Colonel Horry, I presume, 
sir." Horry replied in the affirmative, when Ferguson continued, "'Well, I was with Colonel Wat- 
son when he fought your General Marion on Sampit. I think I saw you there with a party of 
horse, and also at Nelson's Ferrj-, when ]SIarion surprised our party at the house. But,'" he con- 
tinued, " I was hid in high grass, and escaped. You were fortunate in your escape at Sampit, for 
"Watson and Small had twelve hundred men." "If so," replid Horry, "I certainly was fortunate, 
for I did not su]ipose they had more than half that number." "I consider myself," added the cap- 
tain, " equally fortunate in escaping at Nelson's Old Field." " Truly you were," answered Horiy 
dryly, "for Clarion had but thirty militia on that occasion." The officers present could not suppress 
laughter. When Greene inquired of Horry how he came to affront Captain Ferguson, he rephed, 
■'He affronted himself by telling his own story." 

' The principal work was a star redoubt [note 3, page 192]. There was a picketed inclosure 
[note 1, page 127] around the little \Tllage; and on the west side of a stream running from a 
spring (a) was a stockade [note 2, page 183] fort. The besiegers encamped at four ditl'erent points 
around the works. - ^ Page 277. 

^ These are trenches, dug in a zig-zag line in the direction of the fortress to be assailed. The 



1781.] SEVENTH YEAR OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 337 

sault was agreed upon. Brown now proposed a surrender ; and the following- 
day [June 5, 1781J the Americans took possession of that important post. 
They lost fifty-one men, killed and Avounded ; the British lost fifty-two killed 
and three hundred and thirty-four (including the wounded) were made pris- 
oners. At the close of the siege, Lee and Pickens' hastened to join Greene 
before Ninety-six, and all, on the approach of Rawdon, retreated beyond the 
Saluda, as we have observed. 

The two chief commanders of the belligerent forces now changed relative 
positions. When Rawdon retired toward Orangeburg, Greene became his pur- 
suer, and sent a message to Marion and Sumter, then on the Santee, to take a 
position in front of the enemy, so as to retard his progress." Finding Rawdon 
strongly intrenched at Orangeburg, Greene deemed it prudent not to attack 
him. The Americans crossed the Congaree, and the main body encamped on 
the High Hi Us of San fee, in Santee district, there to pass the hot and sickly 
season. Leaving his troops at Orangeburg, in the command of Colonel Stew- 
art (who had come up from Charleston with a reinforcement), Rawdon went to 
the sea-board and embarked for England.^ 

Early in August, Greene was reinforced by North Carolina troops, under 
General Sumner ; and at the close of that month ho crossed the Wateree and 
Congaree, and marched upon Orangeburg. Stewart (who had been joined by 



earth is cast up in such a way that the workmen are shielded from shots from the assailed work.«, 
and in this way they get near enough to undermine a fort, or erect a battery, so as to have a power- 
ful effect. 

' Andrew Pickens was born in Pennsylvania, in 1739. In childhood he went to South Car- 
olina, and was one of the first in the field for liberty, in the upper country of that State. He was a 
very useful officer, and good citizen. He died in 1817, at the age of seventy-eight years. 

^ It is related that the message to Sumter from Greene was conveyed b}^ Emily Geiger, the 
daughter of a German planter in Fairfield district. He prepared a letter to that officer, but none 
of his men appeared willing to attempt the hazardous service, for the Tories were on the alert, as 
Rawdon was approaching the Congaree. Greene was delighted by the boldness of a young girl, 
not more than^'ighteen years of age, who came forward and volunteered to carry the letter to Sum- 
ter. With Ills usual caution, he communicated the contents of the letter to Emily, fearing she 
might lose it on tlie way. Tlie maiden mounted a fieet horse, and crossing the Wateree at the 
Camden Ferry, pressad on toward Sumter's camp. Passing tlirough a dry swamp on the second 
day of her journey, she was intercepted by some Tory scouts. Coming from the direction of Greene's 
army, she was an object of suspicion, and was taken to a house on the edge of the swamp, and con- 
fined in a room. With proper delicacy, they sent for a woman to search her person. No sooner 
was she left alone, than she ate up Greene's letter piece liy piece. After a while, the matron ar- 
rived, made a careful search, but discovered nothing. With many apologies, Emily was allowed to 
pursue her journey. She reached Sumter's camp, communicated Greene's message, and soon Raw- 
don was flying before the Americans toward Orangeburg. Emily Geiger afterward married Mr. 
Thurwits, a rich planter on the Congaree. 

^ A short time b?foro he sailed, Rawdon was a party to a cruel transaction which created a 
great deal of excitement throughout the South. Among those who took British protection after tho 
fliU of Charleston in 1780 [page 311], was Colonel Isaac Haync, a highly respectable Carolinian. 
When General Greene, tho following year, confined the British to Charleston alone, and their pro- 
tection hid no force, Hayno considered himself released from the obligations of his parole, took up 
arms for his country, and was made a prisoner. Colonel Balfour was then in chief command at 
Charleston, and from the beginning seemed determined on the death of ITayne. Without even the 
Ibrm of a trial, that patriot was condemned to be hanged. Not one, not even the prisoner, supposed 
that such a cruelty was contemplated, until tho sentence was made public, and he was informed 
that he had but two days to live. The men of the city pleaded for him ; the women signed peti- 
tions, and went in troops, and upon their knees, implored a remission of his sentence. All was 
in vain. Rawdon had exerted liis influence to save the prisoner, but finally he consented to hi.-i 
execution, as a traitor, and he became as inexorable as Balfour. Greene w;xs inchned to. retaliate, 
but, f)rtunately, hostilities soon afterward ceased, and the flow of blood was stopped. 

22 



333 THE EEVOLUTION. [1781. 

Cruger from Ninety-six), immediately retreated to Eutaw Springs, near the 
Bouth-west bank of the Santee, and there encamped. Greene pursued ; and on 
the morning of the 8th of September [1781], a severe battle commenced. The 
British were driven from their camp ; and Greene's troops, like those of Sum- 
ter at Hanging Rock,' scattered among the tents of the enemy, drinking and 
plundering. The British unexpectedly renewed the l)attle, and after a bloody 
conflict of about four hours, the Americans were obliged to give way. Stewart 
felt insecure, for the partisan legions were not far off, and that night the Brit- 
ish retreated toward Charleston. The next day [Sept. 9, 1781], Greene ad- 
vanced and took possession of the battle-field, and then sent detachments in 
pursuit of the enemy. Both parties claimed the honor of a victory. It be- 
lontred to neither, but the advantage was with the Americans. Congress and 
the whole country gave warm expressions of their appreciation of the valor of 
the patriots. The skill, bravery, caution, and acuteness of Greene, were highly 
applauded ; and Congress ordered a gold medal, ornamented with emblems of 
the battle, to be struck in honor of the event, and presented to him, together 
Avith a British standard, captured on that occasion. The Americans lost, in 
killed, wounded, and missing, five hundred and fifty-five. The British lost six 
hundred and ninety-three. 

While these events were transpiring upon the upper waters of the Santee,' 
Marion, Sumter, Lee, and other partisans, were driving British detachments 
from post to post, in the lower country, and smiting parties of loyalists in every 
direction. The British finally evacuated all their interior stations, and retired 
to Charleston, pursued almost to the verge of the city by the bold American 
scouts and partisan troops. At the close of the year [1781] the British at the 
South were confined to Charleston and Savannah ; and besides these places, 
they did nof hold a single post south of New York. Late in the season 
[November] Greene moved his army to the vicinity of Charleston,' placing it 
between that city and the South Carolina Legislature, then in session at Jack- 
sonborough ; while Wayne, at the opening of 1782, was closely watching the 
British at Savannah. 

We left Cornwallis, after the battle at Guilford Court-house, making his 
way toward Wilmington,^ then in possession of a small British garrison, under 
Major Craig. Cornwallis arrived there on the seventh of April, 1781, and 
remained long enough to recruit and rest his shattered army. Apprised of 
Greene's march toward Camden, and hoping to draw him away from Lord 
Rawdon, then encamped there, "^ he marched into Virginia, joined the forces of 
Phillips and Arnold, at Petersburgh,° and then attempted the subjugation of 
that State. He left Wilmington on the 25th of April, crossed the Roanoke at 

' Page 315. 

* At Columbia, the Saluda and Wateree join, and form tlie Congaree. Tliis, witli otlier and 
smaller tributaries, form tlie Santee. The Wateree, above Camden, is called the Catawba. 

' After the battle at Eutaw Springs, Greene again encamped on the High HiUs of Santee, from 
whence he sent out expeditions toward Charleston. These were successful, and tlie enemy was 
kept close upon the sea-board during the remainder of the war. ■* Page 334. 

^ Page 315. ° Page 330. 



1781.J SEVENTH YEAR OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 339 

Halifax, and on the 20th of May, reached Petersburg. La Fayette was then 
in Virginia,' but his force was too small effectually to oppose the invaders and 
the State seemed doomed to British rule. 

For the purpose of bringing La Fayette into action, Cornwallis penetrated 
the country beyond Richmond, and destroyed an immense amount of property,^ 
He also sent out marauding parties in various directions,^ and for several weeks 
the whole State was kept in great alarm. He finally proceeded [June, 1781] 
slowly toward the coast, closely pursued by La Fayette, Wayne, and Steuben. 
While lying at Williamsburg, he received [June 29] orders from General 
Clinton, to take post near the sea, in order to reinforce the garrison at New 
York, if necessary, which was now menaced by the combined American and 
French armies. He crossed the James River [July 9] at Old JamestoAvn, 
where he was attacked by Wayne before he could embark his troops. Wayne 
struck a severe blow, and then skillfully and hastily retreated back to 
the main army under La Fayette, then only two miles distant. His loss was 
inconsiderable, but the attack damaged the British seriously. After crossin'^ 
the river, Cornwallis proceeded by land to Portsmouth, opposite Norfolk ; but 
disliking that situation, he went to Yorktown, on the York River, and com- 
menced fortifying that place and Gloucester Point, opposite. 

The French army under Rochamlieau,* in the mean while, had left New 
England, and made its way to the Hudson River, where 
it joined [July 6, 1781] that of the Americans, in the 
vicinity of Dobbs' Ferry. ^ At that time, Washington, 
who had the immediate command of the American 
forces, contemplated an attack upon the British in New 
York city. For six weeks the two armies remained in 
Westchester waiting for the arrival of the Count De 
Grasse, an eminent French naval commander, to co- 
operate in the attack. While preparing to strike the 
blow, Clinton Avas reinforced [August 11] by nearly three count de rochvmbeau 
thousand troops from Europe; and intelligence came 
from De Grasse that he could not then leave the West Indies. Thus foiled, 
Washington turned his thovights to Virginia ; and when, a few days afterward, 
he learned from De Barras, the successor of Ternay," in command of the French 

' Page 330. 

* The principal object of Cornwallis in marching beyond Richmond, was to prevent a junction 
with La Fayette of troops under Wayne, then approacliiug through Maryland. I3ut the marquis 
was too expert, outmarched the earl, and met Wayne on the 10th of June. 

^ Colonel Simcoe, commander of an active corps called the Queen's Rangers, was sent to capture 
or destroy stores at the junction of the Fluvanna and Rivanna Rivers. ComwalHs also dispatched 
Tarleton to attempt the capture of Governor Jefferson and the Legislature, wlio had fled from Rich- 
mond to Cliariottesville, near tlie residence of Mr. Jefferson. Seven members of the Legislature fell 
into his hands [June 4], and Mr. Jefferson narrowly escaped capture by fleeing from his house to 
the mountains. 

* The Count Rochambeau was born at Vendome, in France, in 1725. He was a distinguished 
officer in tlio French army, and after his return from America, was made a Field Marshal by his 
king. He was pensionctl by Bonaparte, and died in 1807. ' Page 257. 

^ Admiral Ternay diini at Newport, soon afler the arrival of the fleet there, in the summer of 
1780. His remains were deposited in Trinity Charch-yard there, and a marble slab was placed 
over liis grave. 





340 1^111^ REVOLUTION. [1781. 

fleet at Newport, that De Grasse was about to sail for the 
Chesapeake, he resolved to inarch southward, and assist 
La Fayette against Cornwallis. He wrote deceptive let- 
ters to General Greene in New Jersey, and sent them so 
as to be intercepted by Sir Henry Clinton.' He thus 
blinded the British commander to his real intentions ; and 
it was not until the allied armies had crossed the Hudson, 
passed through New Jersey, and were marching from the 
Delaware toward the head of Chesapeake Bay," that Clin- 
couNT UE GRASSE. tou was couvinccd that an attack upon the city of New 
York was not the object of Washington's movements. It 
was then too late for successful pursuit, and he endeavored to recall the Amer- 
icans by sending Arnold to desolate the New England coast. Although there 
was a terrible massacre perpetrated by the invaders at Fort Griswold' [Septem- 
ber 6, 1781], and New London, opjjosite (almost in sight of the traitor's birth- 
place),* was burned, it did not check the progress of Washington toward that 
goal where he was to win the greatest prize of his military career. Nor did 
reinforcements sent by water to aid Cornwallis, efiect their object, for when 
Admiral Graves arrived ofl" the Capes [September 5], De Grasse was there to 
guard the entrance to the Chesapeake.^ He went out to fight Graves, but after 
a partial action, both withdrew, and the French fleet was anchored [September 
10] within the Capes.^ 

Wliilo Cornwallis was fortifying Yorktown and Gloucester, and the hostile 
fleets Avcre in the neighboring waters, the allied armies, twelve thousand strong,' 
were making their way southward. They arrived before Y'^orktown on the 28th 
of September, 1781 : and after compelling the British to abandon their out- 
works, commenced a regular siege. The place was completely invested on the 
30th, the line of the allied armies extending in a semi-circle, at a distance of 
almost two miles from the British works, each wing resting upon the Y'ork 
River. Having completed some batteries, the Republicans opened a heavy can- 
nonade upon the town and the British works on the evening of the 9th of Oc- 

' These letters directed Greene to prepare for an attack on New York. 

" This is generally called in the letters and histories of tlie time, "Head of Elk," the narrow, 
upper part of the Chesapeajce being called Elk River. There stands the village of Elkton. 

^ Arnold landed at the moutli of the Thames, and proceeded to attack Fort TrumbuD, near New 
London, The garrison evacuated it. and the village was burned. Another division of the expe- 
dition went up on the east side of the Thames, attacked Fort Griswold at Groton, and after Colonel 
Ledyard had surrendered it, he and almost every man in the fort were cruelly murdered, or badly 
wounded. There is a monument to their memory at Groton. 

^ He was born at Norwich, at the head of the Thames, a few mOes north of New London. See 
note 1, page 327. 

* Graves intended to intercept a French squadron, which was on its way with heavy cannons 
and military stores for the armies at Yorktown. Ho was not aware that De Grasse had left the 
West Indies. 

® The place of anchorage was in Lynn Haven Bay. The hostile fleets were in sight of each 
other for five successive days, but neither party was anxious to renew the combat. 

' Including the Virginia militia, the whole of the American and French forces employed in the 
siege, amounted to a little over sixteen thousand men. Of the Americans, about seven thousand 
were regular troops, and four thousand militia. The French troops numbered about five thousand, 
including those brought by De Grasse from the West Indies. 



1781.] SEVENTH YEAR OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 341 



tober. On the following evening they hurled red-hot balls among the British 
shipping in front of the town, and burned several vessels. Hour after hour, 
disasters were gathering a fearful web of diflficulty around Cornwallis. De- 
spairing of aid from Clinton, and perceiving his strong fortifications crumbling, 
one by one, under the terrible storm of iron from a hundred heavy cannons, he 
attempted to escape on the night of the 16th, by crossing to Gloucester, break- 
ing through the French troops stationed there, and making forced marches to- 
ward New York. When the van of his troops embarked, the waters of the 
York River were perfectly calm, although dark clouds Avere gathering in the 
horizon. Then a storm arose as sudden 
and as fearful as a summer tornado, dis- 
persed the boats, compelled many to put 
back, and the attempt was abandoned.' 
Hope now faded ; and on the 19th. Corn- 
wallis surrendered the posts at York- 
town and Gloucester, with almost seven 
thousand British soldiers, and his ship- 
ping and seamen, into the hands of Wash- 
ington and De Grasse.' 

The ceremony, on the occasion of 
the surrender, was exceedingly impos- 
ing. The American army was drawn 
up on the right side of the road lead- 
ing from Yorktown to Hampton ^see 
map), and the French army on the left. Their lines extended more than a 
mile in length. Washington, upon his white charger, was at tlie head of the 
American column ; and Rochambeau, upon a powerful bay horse, was at the 
head of the French column. A vast concourse of people, equal in number, ac- 
cording to eye-witnesses, to tho military, w^as also assembled from the sur- 
rounding country to participate in the joy of the event. Universal silence pre- 
vailed as the vanquished troops slowly marched out of their intrenchments, with 
their colors cased, and their drums beating a British tune, and passed between 
the columns of the coral)ined armies. All were eager to look upon Lord Corn- 
walUs, the terror of the South,' in the hour of his adversity. They were dis- 




SIEGE OF YORKTOWX. 



' Note 4, page 247. 

* The British lost one hundred and fifty-six killed, three hundred and twenty-six wounded, and 
seventy missing. The combined armies lost, in killed and wounded, about three hundred. Among 
the spoils were seventy-five brass, and one hundred and sixty iron cannons ; seven thousand seven 
hundred and ninety-four muskets ; twenty-f^iglit regimental standards ; a large quantity of musket 
and cannon-balls ; and nearly eleven thousand dollars in specie in the military chest. The army 
was surrendered to "Washington, and the shipping and seamen to De Grasse. The latter soon after- 
ward left the Chesapeake, and went to the West Indies. Rochambeau remained with his troops in 
Virginia during the winter, and tliemain body of the American army marched north, and went into 
winter quarters on the Hudson. A strong detachment, undiT General St. Clair [page 276], was 
sent south to drive the British from Wilmington, and reinforce the army of Cieneral Greene, then 
lying near Charleston. 

* The conduct of Lord Cornwallis. durmg his march of over fifteen hundred miles through the 
Southern States, was often disgraceful to the British name. He suffered dwelling-houses to be 
plundered of every thing that could be carried off; and it was well known that his lordship's tiible 



342 THE REVOLUTION. [1781. 

appointed ; he had given himself up to vexation and despair, and, feigning 
illness, he sent General Oliara ^vith his sword, to lead the vanquished. army to 
the field of humiliation. Having arrived at the head of the line, General 
O'Hara advanced toward Washington, and, taking off his hat, apologized for the 
absence of Earl Cornwallis. The commander-in-chief pointed him to General 
Lincoln for directions. It must have been a proud moment for Lincoln, for 
only the year before he was obliged to make a humiliating surrender of his 
army to British conquerors at Charleston.' Lincoln conducted the royal troops 
to the field selected for laying down their arms, and there General 0"Hara 
delivered to him the sword of Cornwallis. Lincoln received it, and then po- 
litely handed it back to O'lTara, to be returned to the earl. 

The delivery of the colors of the several regiments, twenty-eight in num- 
ber, was next performed. For this purpose, twenty-eight British captains, 
each bearing a flag in a case, were drawn up in line. Opposite to them, at a 
distance of six paces, twenty-eight American sergeants Avere placed in line to 
receive the colors. An ensign Avas appointed by Colonel Hamilton, the officer 
of the day, to conduct this interesting ceremony.'- When the ensign gave the 
order for the British captains to advance tAvo paces, to deliver up their colors, 
and the American sergeants to advance tAvo paces to receive them, the former 
hesitated, and gave as a reason, that they Avere unAvilling to surrender their 
flags to non-commissioned officers. Hamilton, Avho Avas at a distance, observed 
this hesitation, and rode up to inquire the cause. On being informed, he Avill- 
iiigly spared the feelings of the British captains, and ordered the ensign to 
receiA'e them himself, and hand them to the American sergeants. The scene is 
depicted in the engraving. 

Clinton appeared at the entrance to Chesapeake Bay a fcAV days afterward, 
with seven thousand troops, but it was too late. The final blow Avhich struck 
down British poAvcr in America had been given. The victory was complete ; 
and Clinton returned to NeAV Yorlc, amazed and disheartened. 

Great Avas the joy throughout the colonies Avhen intelligence of the capture 
of the British army reached the people. From every family altar where a love 
of freedom dwelt — from pulpits, legislative halls, the army, and fi-om Congress,' 



was furnished with plate thus obtained from private families. His march was more frequentlj' that 
of a marauder than an honorable general. It is estimated that Virginia alone lost, during Corn- 
wallis's attem]it to reduce it, thirty tliousand slaves. It was also estimated, at the time, from the best 
information that could be obtained, that, during the six months previous to the surrender at York- 
town, the whole devastations of his army amounted in value to about fifteen millions of dollars. 

' Page 311. 

^ Ensign Robert "Wilson, of General James Clinton's New York Brigade. He was the youngest 
commissioned officer in the array, being then oidy eighteen years of age. He was afterward a magis- 
trate in central New York for a number of years, and was for some time postmaster at Manlius, in 
Onondago county. He died in 1811. 

^ A mess?nger, with a dispatch from Washington, reached Philadelphia at midnight. Soon the 
watchmen in the streets cried, •' Past twelve o'clock, and Cornwallis is taken." Before dawn the 
exulting people filled the streets; and at an early hour, Secretary Thomson [page 227] read that 
cheering letter to the assembled Congress. Then that august body went in procession to a temple 
of the living God [Oct. 24th, 1781], "and there joined in public thanksgivings to the King of kings, 
for the great victory. They also resolved that a marble column should be erected at Yorktown, to 
commemorate the event ; and that two stands of colors should be presented to Washington, and two 
pieces of cannon to each of the French commanders, Roehambeau and Pe Grasse. 




^ ^ 

^'-^f.^ 



SURRE>fDEU OF FLAGS AT YOUKTOWX. 



1782.] CLOSING EVENTS OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 345 

there went up a shout of thanksgiving and praise to the Lord God Omnipotent, 
for the success of the allied troops, and these were mingled Avith universal eulo- 
gies of the great leader and his companions in arms. The clouds which had 
lowered for seven long years, appeared to be breaking, and the splendors of 
the dawn of peace burst forth, like the light of a clear morning after a dismal 
night of tempest and woe. And the desire for peace, which had long burned 
in the bosom of the British people, now found such potential expression, as to 
be heeded by the British ministry. The intelligence of the fate of Cornwallis 
and his party, fell Avith all the destructive energy of a bomb-shell in the midst 
of the war-party in Parliament ; ' and the stoutest declaimers in favor of bay- 
onets and gunpowder, Indians and German mercenaries," as fit instruments for 
enslaving a free people, began to talk of the expediency of peace. Public 
opinion soon found expression in both Houses of Parliament ; and Lord North' 
and his compeers, who had misled the nation for twelve years, gave way 
under the pressure of the peace sentiment, and retired from office on the 20th 
of March, 1782. The advocates of peace then came into power ; and early in 
the following May, Sir Guy Carleton* arrived in New York, with propositions 
for a reconciliation. 



CHAPTER IX. 

CLOSING- EVENTS OP THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. [1782—1789.] 

General Greene, with the main body of the Southern army, was yet on 
the High Hills of Santee, Avhen, on the 30th of October [1781], intelligence 
of the capture of Cornwallis reached him. The day of its arrival Avas made 
jubilant Avith rejoicings by tlie army. The event seemed to be a guaranty for 
the future security of the Republicans in the South, and Governor Kutledge^ 
soon called a Legislative Assembly, to meet at Jacksonborough, to re-establish 
civil authority. An offer of pardon for penitents, brought hundreds of Tories 
from the British lines at Charleston, to accept the clemency. The North Caro- 
lina Tories were dismayed, for immediately after the surrender of ConiAvallis, 
St. Clair" had marched upon Wilmington, when the frightened enemy imme- 
diately al)andoned that post, and Major Craig, the commander, and a few 
folloAvers, took post upon St. John's Island, near Charleston. Yet the vigilance 
of the Americans Avas not alloAved to slumber, for a Avary foe yet occupied the 
capitals of South Carolina and Georgia. Marion and his men kept '"' Avatch and 
ward' over the region between the Cooper and the Santee,' Avbile Greene's main 

' Lord George Germaine said that Lord North received the inteUigence " as he would have 
done a cannon-ball in his breast." He paced the room, and throwing his arms wildly about, kept 
exclaiming, " 0, God ! it is all over, it is all over !" 

- Page 246. ^ Page 224. ■• Page 240. * Page 310. * Page 27(). 

' On one occasion, Marion's brigade sufiered a severe defeat, while the commander was attend- 



346 THE REVOLUTION. [n82. 

army lay near the Edisto ; and Wayne, always vigilant, kept the enemy as 
close within his intrenchments at Savannah. Washington, who returned to the 
North immediately after the surrender, was, at the same time, keeping Clinton 
and his army close prisoners in New York. 




(y J c^il . " e/4 t^rr?^ (yrs^ 



While the theater of Avar was thus narrowing, British statesmen of all 
parties, considering the capture of Cornwallis and his army as the death-blow 
to all hope for future conquests, turned their attention to measures for an 
lionorable termii^ation of the unnatural Avar. General Conway, the firm and 
loncp-tried friend of the Americans, offered a resolution in Parliament in Febru- 
ary [1782], AA'hich A\'as preliminary to the enactment of a decree for command- 
incr the cessation of hostilities. It Avas lost by only one vote. Thus encouraged, 

intj his duties as a member of the South Carolina Legislature. He left his men in command of 
Colonel Horry, and near the vSantee, Colonel Thompson (afterward the eminent Count Rumford) 
attacked the corps, with a superior force, and dispersed it. Marion arrived during the engagement, 
rallied his brigade, and then retired beyond the Santee, to reorganize and recruit. Benjamin 
Thompson was a native of Massachusetts, and was bom in March, 1153. He became a school- 
master, and while acting in that capacity, he married a rich widow. Already his mmd %\as tilled 
with scientific knowledge, and now he pursued his studies and investigations with energj'. When 
the Revolution broke out, he refused to take part in political matters. The Whigs drove hmi to 
Boston for British protection, and he was sent to England by Lord Howe, with dispatches. Toward 
the close of the war, he commanded a corps of Tories at New York and Charleston.^ He returned 
to Europe, became acquainted with the sovereign of Bavaria, made himself exceedingly useful, Av-aa 
raised to tlie highest dignity, and was created a count. After suffering many vicissitudes, he died, near 
Paris, in August. 1814. His daughter, the Countess of Rumford, who was born in America, died at 
Concord, New Hampshire, in 1852. See Lossing's Eminent Americans. 



1789.] CLOSING EVENTS OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 347 

the opposition pressed the subject warmly upon the attention of the House of 
Commons and the nation, and on the 4th of March, Conway moved "That the 
House would consider as enemies to his majesty and the country all those who 
should advise, or by any means attempt, the further prosecution of offensive 




^.-%^ax^^7^ 



'^ 



war on the Continent of North America." The resolution was carried without 
a division, and the next day the attorney-general introduced a plan for a truce 
with the Americans. Orders for a cessation of hostilities speedily went forth 
to the British commanders in America, and preparations Averc soon made for 
evacuating the cities of Savannah and Charleston. 

When General Leslie, the British commander at Charleston, was apprised 
of these proceedings in Parliament, he proposed to General Greene a cessation 
of hostilities. Like a true soldier, Greene referred the matter to Congress, and 
did not for a moment relax his vigilance. Leslie also rei^uested Greene to allow 
him to purchase supplies for his army, at the same time declaring his intention 
to evacuate Charleston. Greene was unwilling thus to nourish a viper, until 
his power to injure was destroyed, and he refused. Leslie then resorted to 
force to obtain provisions. Already he had made several efforts to penetrate 
the country for the ])urpose, and now, late in August, he attempted to ascend 
the Combahee,' when he was opposed by the Amei'icans under General Gist, of 

• Page 42. 



348 THE REVOLUTION. [1782. 

the Maryland line. Colonel John Laurens' volunteered in the service ; and in 
a skirmish at day-break, on the 25th of August, he was killed. He was greatly 
beloved by all, and his death Avas mourned with real sorrow. His was almost 
the last life sacrificed in that glorious old war. The blood of one other was 
shed at Stono Ferro,"" a few weeks afterward, when Captain Wilmot was killed in 
a skirmish with a British foraging party. 

Several weeks previous to this, the British had evacuated Savannah. That 
event occurred on the 11th of July, when General Wayne, in consideration of 
the eminent services of Colonel James Jackson,' appointed him to "receive the 
keys of the city of Savannah" from a committee of British officers. He per- 
formed the duty with great dignity, and on the same day the American army 
entered the city. Royal power then ceased in Georgia, forever. On the 14th 
of December following, the British evacuated Charleston, and the next day, the 
Americans, under General Greene, took possession of it, greeted from windows, 
balconies, and even house-tops, with cheers, waving of handkercniefs, and cries 
of "God bless you, gentlemen! "Welcome! Welcome!" The British 
remained in New York almost a year longer (until the 25th of November, 
1783), under the command of Sir Guy Carleton, who had succeeded Sir Henry 
Clinton, because the final negotiations for peace were not completed, by ratifi- 
cation, until near that time. 

Measures were now taken by Congress and the British government to 
arrange a treaty of peace. The United States appointed five commissioners for 
the purpose, in order that different sections of the Union might be represented. 
These consisted of John Adams, John Jay, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jef- 
ferson, and Henry Laurens. These met Richard Oswald, the English com- 
missioner, at Paris, and there, on the 30th of November, 1782, they signed a 
preliminary treaty.* French and English commissioners also signed a treaty 
of peace on the 20th of January following. Congress ratified the action of its 
commissioners in April, 1783, yet negotiations were in progress until September 
following, when a definitive treaty was signed [September 3, 1783] at Paris.^ 
In that treaty, England acknowledged the Independence of the United 
States ; allowed ample boundaries, extending northward to the Great Lakes, 



' Note 2, page 329. = Page 296. 

' James Jackson was one of the most eminent men in Georgia He was born in England, in 
September, 1757, and came to America in 1772. He studied law at Savannah, and was an active 
soldier during the whole war for Independence. When a Httle past thirty years of age, he was 
elected governor of Georgia, but dechned the honor on account of his youth. He was a meml)er 
of the United States Senate for some time, and was governor of his State for two years. He died, 
while at "Washington, as United States senator, in 1808, and his remains are in the Congressional 
burial-ground. See his portrait on page 347. 

■• Yergennes, the French ministei', was dissatisfied with the manner in which the matter had 
been conducted. It was understood, by the terms of the alliance between the United States and 
France (and expressly stated in the instructions of the commissioners), that no treaty should be 
signed by the latter without the knowledge of the other. Yet it was done on this occasion. A 
portion of the American commissioners doubted the good faith of Yergennes, because he favored 
Spanish claims. Dr. Franklin, however, trusted Yergennes implicitly, and the latter appears to 
have acted honorably, tliroiighout. The cloud of dissatisfaction soon passed away, when Franklin, 
with soft Words, explained the whole matter. 

' It was signed, on the part of England, by David Hartley, and on that of the United States, by 
Dr. Frankhn, John Adams, and John Jay. 



1789.] CLOSING EVENTS OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 349 

and westward to the Mississippi, and an unlimited right of fishing on the banks 
of Newfoundland. The two Floridas were restored to Spain. At the same 
time, definitive treaties between England, France, Spain, and Holland, were 
signed hy their respective commissioners,' and the United States became an 
active power among the nations of the earth.' 

A great work had now been accomplished, yet the joy of the American 
people, in view of returning peace and prosperity, was mingled with many 
gloomy apprehensions of evil. The army, Avhich, through the most terrible 
sufferings, had remained faithful, and become conqueror, was soon to be dis- 
banded ; and thousands, many of them made invalids by the hard service in 
which they had been engaged, would be compelled to seek a livelihood in the 
midst of the desolation whicli war had produced.' For a long time the public 
treasury had been empty, and neither ofiicers nor soldiers had received any pay 
for their services. A resolution of Congress, passed in 1780 [October 21], to 
allow the officers half pay for life, was ineffective, because funds were wanting. 
Already the gloomy prospect had created wide-spread murmurings in the army, 
and there were many men who sighed for a stronger government. They ascribed 
the weakness of the Confederation to its republican form, and a change, to be 
wrought by the army, was actually proposed to Washington. Nicola, a foreign 
officer in a Pennsylvania regiment, made the proposition, in a well-written letter, 
and not only urged the necessity of a monarchy, but endeavored to persuade 
Washington to become king, by the voice of the army. The sharp rebuke of the 
commander-in-chief [May, 1782] , checked all further movements in that direction. 

The general discontent soon assumed another shape, and on the 11th of 
March, 1783, a well-written address was circulated through the American camp 
(then near Newburg), which advised the army to take matters into its own 
hands, make a demonstration that should arouse the fears of the people and of 
Congress, and thus obtain justice for themselves.* For this purpose a meeting 
of officers was called, but the great influence of Washington prevented a 
response. The commander-in-chief then, summoned all the officers together, 
laid the matter ])efore them [March 15], and obtained from them a patriotic 
expression of their faith in the "justice of Congress and the country." In a 
few days the threatening cloud passed away, and soon after this event Congress 
made arrangements for granting to the officers fall pay for five years, instead 
of half pay for life ; and to the soldiers full pay for four months, in partial 
liquidation of their claims. This arrangement was not satisfactory, and discon- 



' That between Great Britain and TloUand was signed on the second. 

=" John Adams was the first minister of the United States to Great Britain. He was politely 
received by King George tlie Third ; and that monarch was iaitliful to his promises to preserve 
inviolate the covenant he had made by acknowledging the independence of the new Republic. 

^ The army, consisting of about ten thousand men, was then encamped on the Hudson, near 
Newburg. 

* This address was anonymous, but it was afterward acknowledged to be the production of John 
Armstrong, then a major, and one of General Gates's aids. It is believed that Gates and other 
oIBcers were the instigators of the scheme, and tliat Armstrong acted under their direction. Ho 
was an accomplished writer, and was much in public life after the war. He was United States min- 
ister to France for six years, from 1804. He was Secretary of War in 1814 ; and died in Dutchess 
county, New York, in 1843, in the eighty-fitth year of bis age. 



350 THE REVOLUTION. [1782. 

tent still prevailed.' In the mean while [March 2] the preliminary treaty had 
arrived. On the eighth anniversary of the skirmish at Lexington [April 19, 
1783J, a cessation of hostilites was proclaimed in the army, and on the 3d of 
November following, the army was disbanded by a general order of Congress. A 
small force was retained under a definite enlistment, until a peace establishment 
should be organized.^ These were now at West Point, under the command of 
General Kno.\. The remainder of that glorious band of patriots then quietly 
returned to their homes, to enjoy, for the remnant of their lives, the blessmgs of 
the liberty they had won, and the grateful benedictions of their countrymen. 
Of the two hundred and thirty thousand Continental soldiers, and the fifty-six 
thousand mihtia who bore arms during the war, not more than six hundred now 
[1856] remain among us !' And the average of these must be full ninety years. 
The British army evacuated the city of New York on the 25th of Novem- 
ber, 1783. With their departure, went, forever, the last instrument of royal 
power in these United States. On the morning of that day — a cold, frosty, 
Imt clear and brilliant morning — the American troops, 
under General Knox,* who had come down from West 
Point and encamped at Harlem, marched to the Bowery 
Lane, and halted at the present junction of Third 
~^^i^K^?^i^ -^v^^^® ^^^^ ^^^ Bowery. Knox was accompanied by 

George Clinton,^ the govej-nor of the State of New 
York, with all the principal civil officers. There they 
remained until about one o'clock in the afternoon, when 
the British left their posts in that vicinity and marched 
to Whitehall. ° The American troops followed, and 

GOVERNOR CLINTON. ^ 

' In May, 1783, a portion of the Pennsylvania troops, lately arrived from the South, marched 
to Philadelpliia, where they were joined by others, and for three hours they stood at the door of the 
State House, and demanded immediate pay from Congress. St. Clair, then in command there, 
pacified them for the moment, and "Washington soon queUed the mutiny. See page 328. 

" A great portion of the officers and soldiers had been permitted, during the summer, to visit 
their homes on furlough. The proclamation of discharge, by Congress, was followed by Washing- 
ton's farewell address to his companions in arms, written at Rocky Hill, New Jersey, on the 3d of 
November. He had alread}^ issued a circular letter (Newburg, June Sth, 1783) to the governors 
of all the States on the subject of disbanding the army. It was designed to be laid before the sev- 
eral State Legislatures. It is a document of great value, because of the soundness of its doctrines, 
and the weight and wisdom of its counsels. Four great points of policy constitute the chief theme 
of his communication, namely, an indissoluble union of the States; a sacred regard for 'public justice; 
the organization of a proper peace establishment; and a friendly intercourse among the people of the 
sefueral States, by luhich heal prejudice might be effaced. " These," he remarks, "are the pillars on 
wliich the glorious fabric of our independency and national character must be supported." No 
doubt this address had great influence upon the minds of the whole people, and made them yearn 
for that more eflQcient union which the Federal Constitution soon afterward secured. 

' Great Britain sent to America, during the war, one hundred and twelve thousand five hun- 
dred and eighty-four troops for the land service, and more than twenty-two thousand seamen. Of 
all this host, not one is known to be living. One of them (John Battin) died in the city of New 
York, in June, 1852, at the age of one hundred years and four months. 

* Henry Knox, the able commander of tlie artillery during the Revolution, was born in Boston, 
in 1740. He entered the army at the commencement of the war. He was President Washington's 
Secretary of War, and held that office eleven years. He died at Thomaston, in Maine, in 1806. 

' Like Governors Trumbull [page 323] and Rutledge [page 310], Clinton, in a civil capacity, 
was of immense service to the American cause. Ho was born in Ulster county. New York, in 1739. 
He was governor about eighteen years, and died in 1812, while Vice-President of the United 
'States. See page 404. * Now the South Ferry to Brooklyn. 




1789.] CLOSING EVENTS OF TFiE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 351 

before three o'clock General Knox took formal possession of Fort George amid 
the acclamations of thousands of emancipated freemen, and the roar of artillery 
upon the Battery. 

On Thursday, the 4th of December. Washington met his officers, yet re- 




maining in service, at his quarters, corner of Broad and Pearl-streets, New 
York, for the last time. The scene, as described by ^larshall,' the best of the 
early biographers of Washington, was one of great tenderness. The commander- 
in-chief entered the room where they were all waiting, and taking a glass of 
wine in his hand, he said, " With a heart full of love and gratitude, I now take 



' John Marshall, the eminent Chief Justice of the United States, was born in Fauquier county, 
Virginia, in 1755, and was the eldest of fifteen children by the same mother. He entered the mil- 
itarv service, in the Virginia militia, against Dunmore [page '244], in 1775, and was in the battle at 
the Great Bridge [see page 243]. He remained in service, as an excellent officer, until early in 

1780, when he studied law, and became very eminent in his profession. He was again in the field iu 

1781. In 1782 he was a member of the Virginia Legislature. He was chosen Secretary of War in 
1800, and the next year was elevated to the Cliicf Justiceship of the United States. His Life of 
Washington was published in 1805. Judge Marshall died at Piiiladelphia in 1835, in the eightieth 
year of his age. He was an exceedingly plain man, in person and habits, and always carried his 
own marketing homo in his hands. On one occasion, a young housekeeper was swearing lustily 
because he could not hire a per.son to carry his turkey home for him. A plain man, standing by, 
offered to perform the service, and when tliey arrived at the door, the young man a.skcd, ''What 
shall I pay you?" "Oh, notliing," replied the old man; ''you are welcome; it was on my way, 
and no trouble." "Who is that polite old gentleman who brought home my turkey for uie?" in- 
quired the young man of a bystander. "That," he replied, "is John Marshall, Chief Justice of the 
United States." The astonished young man exclaimed, "Why did he bring home my turkey?" 
" To give you a severe reprimand." replied the other, "and to learn you to attead to your own bus- 
iness." The lesson was never forgotten. 



352 



THE REYOLUTlON. 



[1782 




leave of jou. I most devoutly wish that your latter clays may be as prosperous 
and happy as your former ones have been glorious and honorable." Having 
drank, he continued, "I can not come to each of you to take my leave, but 
shall be obliged to you if eacli will come and take nie by the hand.-' Knox, 
who stood nearest to him, turned and grasped his hand, and, while the tears 
flowed down the cheeks of each, the commander-in-chief kissed him. This he 
did to each of his officers, while tears and sobs stifled utterance. Washington 
soon left the room, and passing through corps of light infantry, he w^alked in 
silence to Whitehall, where he embarked in a barge for Elizabethtown, on his 
way to Annapolis, in Maryland, where Congress was in session. There, on the 
23d of December, he resigned into its custody the com- 
mission which he received [June 16, IT 75 J from that 
body more than eight years before.' His address on 
that occasion was simple and touching, and the re- 
sponse of General Mifflin,^ the president, was equally 
affecting. The spectacle was one of great moral sub- 
limity. Like Cincinnatus, Washington, having been 
instrumental, under Providence, in preserving the lib- 
erties of his country and achieving its independence, 
laid down the cares of State and returned to his plow. 

A few months before the final disbanding of the army, many of the officers- 
then at Newburg, on the Hudson, met [June 19, 1783] at the head-quarters of 
the Baron Steuben, situated about two miles from the Fishkill 
Ferry, and there formed an association, which they named the 
Society of the Cincinnati. The chief objects of the Society 
were to promote cordial friendship and indis.'r^oluble union among 
themselves ; to commemorate, by frequent re-unions, the great 
struggle they had just passed through ; to use their best en- 
deavors for the promotion of human liberty ; to cherish good 
feeling between tlie respective States ; and to extend benevolent 
aid to those of the Society whose circumstances might require 
it. They formed a General Society, and elected Washington 
its first president. They also made provision for the formation 
of auxiliary State societies. To perpetuate the Association, it 
was provided, in the constitution, that the eldest male descend- 
ant of an original member should be entitled to bear the Order, 
and enjoy the privileges of the Society. The Ordef consists 
of a gold eagle, suspended upon a ribbon, on the breast of which is a medallion 



GENERAL MIFFLIN. 




* Page 23S. At the same time "Washington rendered the account current of his expenditures, 
for reconnoitering, traveling, secret service, and miscellaneous expenses, amounting to about 
$74,480. He would receive nothing in compensation for his own services as commander-in-chief. 

"^ Thomas Mifflin was born in Philadelphia in 1744. He was a Quaker [note 7, page 94], but 
joined the patriot army in 1775, and rapidly rose to the rank of major-general. He was a member 
of Congress after the war, and also governor of Pennsylvania. He died in January, 1800. 

^ An order is a badge, or visible token of regard or distinction, conferred upon persons tor mer- 
itorious services. On the breast of Baron Steuben on page 291, is the order of Fidelity, presented 
to him by Frederic the Great of Prussia, for his services in the army of that monarch. Some of tho 



1789.] CLOSING EVENTS OF THE WAR FOR I ND E FEND E NC E. 353 

with a device, representing Cincinnatus receiving the Roman senators." Sev- 
eral State societies are yet [1856J in existence. 

The Avar was ended, and peace was guarantied, but the people had much to 
do in the adjustment of public affairs, so as to lay the foundations of permanent 
prosperity, and thus secure the liberty and independence proclaimed and 
acknowledged. The country was burdened with a heavy debt, foreign and do- 
mestic," and the Articles of Coiifcd ration'' gave Congress no power to dis- 
charge them, if it had possessed the ability. On its recommendation, however, 
the individual States attempted to raise their respective quotas, by direct tax- 
ation. But all were impoverished by the w^ar, and it was found to be impos- 
sible to provide means even to meet the arrears of pay due the soldiers of the 
Revolution. Each State had its local obligations to meet, and Congress could 
not coerce compliance with its recommendations. 

This effort produced great excitement in many of the States, and finally, in 
1787, a portion of the people of jNIassachusetts openly rebelled. Daniel Shays, 
who had been a captain in the continental army, marched at the head of a thou- 
sand men, took possession of Worcester, and prevented a session of the Supreme 
Court. He repeated the same at Springfield. The insurrection soon became 
so formidable, that Governor Bowdoin was compelled to call out several thou- 
sand militia, under General Lincoln, to suppress it. Lincoln captured one hun- 
dred and fifty of the insurgents, and their power was broken. A free pardon 
was, finally, offered to all privates who had engaged in the rebellion. Several 
leaders were tried, and sentenced to death, but none were executed, for it was 
perceived that the great mass of the people sympathized with them. This epi- 
sode is known as Shai/s's RebeUion. 

"We have already noticed the fact that the Pope was unfriendly to England,'' 
and looked with favor upon the rebellious movements of her colonies. Soon 
after the treaty of peace was concluded [Sept. 8, 1783], -the Pope's Nuncio at 
Paris made overtures to Franklin, on the subject of appointing an apostolic 
vicar for the United States. The matter was referred to Congress, and that 
body properly replied, that the subject being purely spiritual, it was beyond 
their control. The idea of entire separation between the State and spiritual 
governments — the full exercise of freedom of conscience — was thus early enun- 



orders conferred by kings are very costly, being made of gold and silver, and precious stones. Tlie 
picture of tlie order of the Cincinnati, given on the preceding page, is half the size of the original. 

^ Cincinnatus was a noble Roman citizen. When the Romans were menaced witli destruction 
bv an enemy, the Senate appointed delegates to invite Cincinnatus to assume tlie chief magistracy 
of the nation. They found him at his plow. He immediately complied, raised an army, subdued 
the enemy, and, after bearing the almost imperial dignity for fourteen days, he resigned his office, 
and returned to his plow. How like Cincinnatus were Washington and his compatriots of the War 
for Independence ! 

^ According to an estimate made by the Register of the Treasury in 1790, the entire cost of the 
War for Independence, was at least one hundred and thirty millwns of dollars, exclusive of vast suras 
lost by individuals and the several States, to the amount, probably, oi forty millions more. The 
treasurj' payments amounted to almost ninety-three millions, chiefly in continental bills. Tlie foreign 
debt amounted to ei<jht millions of dollars ; and the domestic debt, due chiefly to the officers and 
soldiers of the Revolution, was more than thirty millions of dollars. 

' Note 1, page 267, and Supplement. * Page 266. 

23 



354 



TITE REVOLUTION. 



[1782. 



ciatecl. The Pope accordingly appointed John Carroll,' of Maryland, a cousin 
of Charles Carroll, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, to the 
high oflfice of Apo.stolic- Vicar. He was consecrated Bishop of Baltimore, and 
was ultimately made Archbishop of the United States. At about the same 




time, the Church of England in America sought a reorganization, and Samuel 
Seabury, an Episcopal minister of New London, Connecticut, at the rec^uest of 
the Churchmen of that State, proceeded to England to obtain ordination as 
bishop. The English bishops Avere not allowed to confer the dignity unless the 
recipient would take the oath of allegiance to the king of England, as head of 
the Church. This, Seabury (although a loyalist during the war) could not do, 
and he sought and obtained ordination from Scotch bishops. Such was the 
commencement of the two most prominent prelatical Churches in the United 
States. The jMethodist Church, which has since flourished so wonderfully, was 
then just taking firm root. 

^ John Carroll was born in Maryland in 17.35, and at the ap:e of thirteen years, was sent to 
Europe to be educated. He was ordained a priest in 1769, and became a teacher at St. Omer and 
at Liege. When the Jesuits were expelled from France, he went to England, and returned to his 
native country in 1775. He accompanied a Congressional committee to Canada, in 1776, to en- 
deavor to persuade that Roman Catliolic colony to join the others in the revolt. Throughout the 
war he was attached to tlie Repulican cause. He was appointed Vicar-General in 1786, and was 
consecrated a bishop in 1790. He was made archbishop in 1808. He died in Baltimore in 1815, 
at the age of eighty years. His usual signature was f J. Bis'', of Baltimore. 



1789.] CLOSIXO EA^EXTS OF THE WAE FOR T X D EPE XDEXCE. p,').") 

For a long time it had been cle;irlj perceived that, -while the Articles of 
Confederation formed a sufficient constitution of government during the prog- 
ress of the war, they were not adapted to the public wants in the new condition 
of an independent sovereignty in which the people found themselves. Tlien; 
appeared a necessity for a greater centralization of power by which the gciier;i] 
government could act more efficiently for the public good. To a great extent, 
the people lost all regard for the authority of Congress, and the commei-cial 
affairs of the country became wretchedly deranged. In truth, every thing 
seemed to be tending toward utter chaos, soon after the peace in 1783,' and the 
leading minds engaged in the struggle for Independence, in view of the increas- 
ing and magnified evils, and the glaring defects of the Articles of Confcdei'u- 
tion, were turned to the consideration of a plan for a closer union of the States, 
and for a general government founded on the principles of the Declaration of 
Independence, from which the confederation in question widely departed. 

The sagacious mind of Washington early perceived, with intense anxiety, 
the tendency toward ruin of that fair fabric which his wisdom and prowess had 
helped to rear, and he toolc the initial step toward the adoption of measures 
which finally resulted in the formation of the present Constitution of the United 
States." At his suggestion, a convention, for the purpose of consulting on the 
best means of remedying the defects of the Federal Government, was held at 
Annapolis, in IMaryland, in September, 1786. Only five States (Virginia, 
DelaM'are, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York) were represented. They 
met on the 11th of that month, and John Dickenson' was chosen chairman. 
They finally appointed a committee to prepare a draft of a report to be made to 
the Legislatures of the several States, then represented. The committee 
reported on the 14th, but there not being a representation from a majority of 
the States, it was thought advisable to postpone further action. They adjourned, 
after recommending the appointment of deputies to meet in convention at 
Philadelphia, in May following. The report was adopted and transmitted to 
Congress. On the 21st of February, 1787, a committee of that body.* to whom 
the report of the commissioners was referred, reported thereon, and strongly 
recommended to the different Legislatures to send forward delegates to meet in 
the proposed convention at Philadelphia. Propositions were made by delegates 
from New York and Massachusetts, and finally the following resolution, sub- 
mitted by the latter, after being amended, was agreed to : 

" Resolved^ That in the opinion of Congress, it is expedient that on the 
second Monday in May next, a convention of delegates, who shall have been 
appointed by the several States, be held at Philadelphia, for the sole and 
express purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation, and reporting to 
Congress and the several Legislatures such alterations and provisions therein 
as shall, when agreed to in Congress, and confirmed bv the States, render the 



' Pap:e 348. ^ -^^^^ 355 3 Pap-p 210. 

' The committee consisted of Messrs. Dana, Varnum, S. Yi. ^^litchcll. Smith. Cadwalader, Irvine, 
X. ilitchcll, Forest, Grayson, Blount, Bull, and Few. 



556 THE REVOLUTION. [1782. 

Eederal Constitution adequate to the exigences of the government and the 
preservation of the Union." 

This resokition, with a preamble, was immediately transmitted to the several 
Speakers of State Legislatives Assemblies, and they were laid l)efore the repre- 
sentatives of the people in all the States of the Confederacy. While a feeling 
generally prevailed, tliat somethinj must he done to avert the threatened anarchy, 
toward which governmental operations were rapidly tending, great caution was 
observed in the delegation of powers to those who should be appointed members 
of the proposed convention.' In ]May, 1787," delegates from all the States, 
except New Hampshire and Rhode Island,^ assembled at Philadelphia, in the 
room where Congress was in session when the Declaration of Independence was 
adopted.'' Washington, who was a delegate from Virginia, was, on motion of 
Robert Morris, chosen President. Able statesmen were his associates," and they 
entered earnestly upon their duties. They had not proceeded far, however, 
before they perceived that the Articles of Confederation were so radically 
defective, and their powers so inadequate to meet the Avants of the country, that, 
instead of trying to amend that old code, they went diligently to work to form 
a new Constitution. For some time they made but little progress. There Avere 



^ The great question that came up before the members, at the very commencement of the session 
of the Convention, was, " What powers do we possess ? Can the amenchnents to the Articles of 
Confederation be carried so far as to estabhsh an entirely new system ?" 

" The day fixed for the assembhng of tlie Convention, was the 14th of May. On that day, del- 
egates from only half the States were present. The remainder of the delegates did not all arrive 
before the 25th!^ 

^ Ignorant and unprincipled men, who were willing to liciuidate public and private debts liy the 
agency of unstable paper money, controlled the Assembly of Rhode Island, and that body refused 
to elect delegates to the Convention. But some of the best and most influential men in the State 
joined in sending a letter to the Convention, in which they expressed their cordial sympathy with 
the oljject of that national assembly, and promised their adhesion to whatever the majoritj' might 
propose. The following are the names of the delegates: 

Neiu HajiijisMre. — John Langdon, John Pickering, Nicholas Oilman, and Benjamin West. 

Massachusetts. — Francis Dana, Pllbridge Gerry, Nathaniel Gorham. Rufus King, and Caleb Strong. 

Connecticut. — William Samuel .lohnson, Roger Sherman, and Oliver Ellsworth. 

New York. — Robert Yates, John Lansing, Jr., and Alexander Hamilton. 

New Jersey. — David Brearley, William Churchill Houston, William Paterson, John Neilson. 
Wi'liam Livingston, Abraham Clark, and Jonathan Dayton. 

Pennsylvania. — Thomas ^liffiin, Robert Morris, George Clymer, Jared Ingersoll, Thomas Fitz- 
simmons, James Wilson, Gouverneur Morris, and Benjamin Franklin. 

Delaware. — George Reed, Gunning Bedford, Jr., John Dickenson, Richard Bassett, and Jacob 
Brown. 

Maryland. — James M 'Henry, Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, Daniel Carroll, John Francis Mercer, 
and Luther Martin. 

Virginia. — George Washington, Patrick Henry, Edmund Randolph, John Blair, James Madison, 
Jr.. George Mason, and George Wythe. Patrick Henry having decUned his appointment, James 
M'Clure was nominated to supply his place. 

North Carolina. — Richard Caswell, Alexander Martin, William Richardson Davie, Richard 
Dobbs Spaiglit, and Willie Jones. Richard Caswell having resigned, William Blount was appointed 
a deputy in his place. Willie Jones having also declined his appointment, his place was supplied by 
Hugh Williamson. 

South Carolina. — John Rutledge, Charles Pinckey, Charles C. Pinckney, and Pierce Butler. 

Georgia. — William Few, Abraham Bald'nin, William Pierce, George Walton, William Houston, 
and Nathaniel Pendleton. * Page 250. 

' The members who were most conspicuous as debaters in the Convention, were Randolph, 
Madison, and Mason, of Virginia; Kmg, Gerry, and Gorham, of Massachusetts: Gouverneur Mor- 
ri.s, Wilson, and Dr. Franklin, of Penns^-lvania ; Johnson, Sherman, and Ellsworth, of Connecticut; 
Lansing and Hamilton, of New York ; tlie two Pincknc-ys, of South Carolina ; Paterson, of New 
Jersey ; Martin, of Maryland ; Dickenson, of Delaware ; and Dr. WiUiamson, of North Carolina, 



il.kl <l,lil.l|i|,li:..|,:,i 



. JijidiroH"' !i"iiii 



'iir 



I'-':! 



IMIii'llli:; llllllllIlll'N lllllljilf 



ii;inii:i^'" mmm. JBMlk 







FK.lXKLtN* IN THE FEDERAL CONV'EKTION. 



1789.] CLOSINCt events OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 359 

great diversities of opinion,' and it seemed, after several days, that the conven- 
tion must, of necessity, dissolve without accomplishing any thing. Some pro- 
posed a final adjournment. At this momentous crisis, Dr. Franklin aro.sc, and 
said to the President, "How has it happened, sir, that while groping so lon^ 
in the dark, divided in our opinions, and now ready to separate without accom- 
plishing the great objects of our meetiisg, that we have hitherto not once thought 
of humbly applying to the Father of Lights to illuminate our understandings ? 
In the be^innincr of the contest with Britain, when we were sensible of danger, 
we had daily prayers in this room for divine protection. Our prayers, sir, 
were heard, and graciously answered." After a few more remarks, he moved 
that " henceforth, prayers, imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessings 
on our deliberations, be held in this Assembly every morning before we proceed 
to business." The resolution was adopted; clergymen were invited to officiate; 
greater harmony prevailed in the convention ; and so visible was the guidance 
of Divine Wisdom from that time, that the most skeptical was confounded. 
They went straight forward to the glorious termination of their labors. 

After long and animated debates, the Convention referred all propositions, 
reports, etc., which had been agreed to from time to time, to a Cunmiittee of 
Detail, consistmg of Rutledge, Randolph, Gorham, Ellsworth,' and "Wilson. 
The Convention then adjourned, and ten days afterward [August 6, ITSTj it 
met, and that committeo reported a rough sketch of the Constitution, as it now 
stands. Now, again, long and sometimes angry debates Avere had. Amend- 
ments were made, and all were referred to a committee for final revision. 
That committee submitted the following resolution on the 12th of September, 
which was adopted : 



* Edmund Randolph submitted a plan on tlio 29th of May, in a serioa of Rpsolutions, which was 
known as the " Virginia Plan." It proposed to term a general government, composed of a legislature, 
and an executive and judiciary department ; a revenue, and an armj^ and nav,y, independent of tho 
control of the several States ; to have power to conduct war, establish peace, and make treaties ; to 
have the exclusive privilegfj of coining money, and the general supervision of all national trans- 
actions. Upon general principles, this plan was highly approved ; but in that Convention there 
were many ardent and pure patriots, who looked upon the preservation of tlio State sovereignties 
as essential, and regarded this proposition as an infringement upon State Rights. Mr. Paterson 
also submitted a plan for amending tho Articles of Conftderation. It proposed to enlarge tho 
powers of Congress, but left its resources and supplies to be found through the medium of the State 
governments. This was one of the most serious defects of tlie old League — a dependence of the 
general government upon the State governmonts for its vitality. Other propositions were submitted 
ifrom time to time, and tho most intense solicitude was felt by ever}- member. Subjects of the most 
vital interest were ably discussed, from day to day ; but none created more earnest debate than a 
proposition for the gener.al government to assume' tlie debts of the States contracted in providing 
means for carrying on the war. The debts of the several States were imequal. Those of Massa- 
chusetts and South Carolina amounted to more than ten millions and a lialf of dollars, while the 
debts of all the other States did not extend, in the aggregate, to fifteen millions. Tliis assumption 
was finally made, to the amount of twenty-one millions five hundred thousand dollars. See 
pxgj 370. 

- Oliver Ellsworth was one of the soundest men in the Convention, and was ever one of tho 
most beloved of the New England patriots. lie was born in \Vind.sor, Connecticut, in April, 1745. 
He was educated at Yalo College, and at Princeton, and at the age of twenty-five, he conmienced 
the practice of law at Hartford. Ho was an eloquent speaker, and became very eminent in his 
profession. He was a member of the Continental Congress in 1777. and in 178-1 ho was appointed 
Judge of the Superior Court of Connecticut. He was the first United States senator from Connect- 
icut, under the new Constitution, and in 1796 he was appointed Chief Justice of the United States. 
Ho was an embassador to the French court from 1799 to 1801. He died in November, 1807, at 
the agj of sixty -two years. See next page. 



SCO 



THE RETOLUTIOX. 



[17S2 



''Resolved vnanimousrii, That the said report, with the resolutions and 
letters accompanying the same, be transmitted to the several Legislatures, in 
order to be submitted to a convention of delegates chosen in each State bj 
the people thereof, in conformity to the resolves of the Convention, made and 
provided, in that case." 




The new Constitution, when submitted to the people,^ found many and able 
opposers. State rights, sectional interests, radical democracy, all had numer- 
ous friends, and these formed the phalanx of opposition. All the persuasive 
eloquence of its advocates, with pen and speech, was needed to convince the 
people of its superiority to the Articles of Confederat'on^ and the necessity for 
its ratification. Among its ablest supporters was Alexander Hamilton," whose 



^ The Convention agreed to the revised Constitution on the IStli of September, and on the 17th 
it was signed by tlio representatives of all the States then present, except Randolpli, Gerry, and 
Mason. The Constitution was submitted to Congress on tlie 28th, and that body sent copies of it 
to all the State Legislatures. State Conventions were then called to consider it ; and more than a 
year elapsed before the requisite number of States had ratified it. These performed that act in the 
following order: Delaware, Dec. 7, 1787; Pennsylvania, Dec. 12, 1787; New Jersey, Dec. 18, 
1787; Georgia, Jan. 2, 1788; Connecticut, Jan. 9,' 1788; Massachusetts, Feb. 6, 1788; Maryland, 
April 28, 1788; South Carolina, Mav 23, 1788; New Hampshire, June 21, 1788; Virginia, Juno 
26, 1788; New York, July 2G, 1788; North CaroUna, Nov. 21, 1788; Rhode Island, May 29, 
1790. 

"^ Alexander Hamilton was bom on the Island of Nevis, British "West Indies, in January, 1757. 
He was of Scotch and French parentage. He became a clerk to a New York merchant at St. 
Croix, and he was finallj^ brought to New York to be educated. He was at Bang's (now Columbia) 
College, and was distinguished as a good speaker and writer, while yet a mere lad. When the Rev- 
olution liroke out, he espoused the Republican cause, entered the army, became Washington's favor- 
ite aid and secretary, and was an efficient officer until its close. He made the law his profession, 
and, as au able financier, he was made the first Secretary of the Treasury, under the new Constitu- 



1789.] CLOSING EVENTS OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 361 

pen and sword had been identified with the career of Washington during almost 
the whole War for Independence. He gave to its advocacy the whole weight of 
his character and power of his genius ; and, aided by Jay and Madison, he scat- 
tered broadcast among the people, those able papers called Th Federalist. 
These, like Paine's Crisis, stirred the masses ; and soon eleven States, in Con- 




vention assembled, gave the Federal Constitution their support, and ratified it. 
Congress then fixed the time for choosino; electors for President and Vice- 
President,' and provided for the organization of the new government. On 
Wednesday, the 4th day of March, 1789, the old Continental Congress^ expired, 
and the Federal Constitution became the organic law of the Republic. This 
was the crowning act of the War for Independence,^ and then the United 
States of America commenced their glorious career as a powerful empire 
among the nations of the earth. 



tion. He was shot in a duel, by Aaron Burr, in July, 1804, at the early age of forty-seven years. 
His widow, daughter of General Schuyler, died in November, 1854, in the nmety-seventh year of 
her age. 

* These are men elected by the people in the various States, to meet and choose a President and 
Vice-President of the United Statea Their number is equal to the whole number of Senators and 
Representatives to which the several States are entitled. So the people do not vote directly for the 
Chief Magistrate. Formerly, the man who received the highest number of votes was declared to 
be President, and he who received the next highest number was proclaimed Vice-President. Now 
these are voted for as distinct candidates for separate offices. See Article II. of the Federal Con- 
stitution, Supplement. The lirst electors were chosen on the first Wednesday hi Februarj^ 1789. The 
inauguration of the first President did not take place [page 3GG] until the 30th of April followmg. 

» Page 226. 

' For details of the history, biography, scenery, relics, and traditions of the War for Independ- 
ence, see Lossing's Pictorial Meld Book of tlie Ktvolution. 



362 



THE REVOLUTION. 



[1782. 



Congress was in session at New York while the Convention at Philadelphia 
was busy in preparing the Federal Constitution. During that time it disposed 
of the sulject of organizing a Territorial Government for the vast region north- 
ward of the Ohio River, within the domain of the United States.' On the 11th 
of July, 1787, a committee of Congress reported " An Ordinance for the Gov- 
ernment of the Territory of the United States North-west of the Ohio.'' This 




report embodied a bill, whose provisions in regard to personal liberty and distri- 
bution of property, were very important. It contained a special proviso that 
the estates of all persons dying intestate, in the territory, should be equally 
divided among all the children, or next of kin in equal degree, thus striking 
down the unjust law of primogeniture, and asserting a more republican prin- 
ciple. The bill, also, provided and declared, that "there shall be neither 
slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said territory, otherwise than in the 
punishment of crimes whereof the party shall have been duly convicted."' This 
ordinance was adopted on the 13th, after adding a clause relative to the reclam- 
ation of fugitives from labor, similar to that incorporated in the Federal Consti- 
tution a few weeks later." 

This ordinance, together with the fact that Indian titles to seventeen mil- 
lions of acres of land in that region, had been lately extinguished by treaty 



Page 390. 



* See the Federal Constitution, Article IV., Section 2, Clause 3. 



1789.] CLOSING EVENTS OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 363 

with several of the dusky tribes,' caused a sudden and great inliux of immi- 
grants into the country along the northern banks of the Ohio. Manasseh Cut- 
ler, Rufus Putnam, Winthrop Sargent, and other New Englanders, organized 
the " Ohio Company," and entered into a contract for the sale of a tract of five 
millions of acres, extending along the Ohio from the Muskingum to the Sciota.^ 
A similar contract was entered into with John Cleves Symmcs, of New Jersey, 
for the sale of two millions of acres, between the Great and Little Miamis. 
These were the first steps taken toward the settlement of the vast North-iccst 
Territory, which embraced the present States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Mich- 
igan, and Wisconsin. It was estimated that, during the year following the 
organization of that Territory [1788], full twenty thousand men, Avomen, and 
children had passed down the Ohio River, to become settlers upon its banks. 
Since, then, how wonderful has been the progress of settlement beyond the 
Alleghanies ! How wide and deep has been the ever-flowing tide of emigration 
thither ! The original thirteen States have now [1856] expanded into 
THIRTY-ONE, and vast territories, destined to become numerous other States, 
are rapidly filling with people. 



' The Six Nations [page 25], the Wj-audots [page 23], the Dclawares [page 20], and the 
Shawnees [page 19]. 

* Rufus Putnam, who had been an active officer during the War for Independence, was one of 
the most efficient of the Oliio settlers. He was born in Worcester county, Maraaclnisetts, in 1738. 
He entered the provincial army in 1757, and continued in service during the remainder of the 
French and Indian War. He entered the army of the Revolution in 1775, and at near the close of 
the war, he was promoted to brigadier-general He went to the Ohio country, with about fortj' 
settlers, in 1788. They pitched their tents at the mouth of the Muskingum River, formed a settle- 
mont. and called it Marietta. Suspicious of the Indians, they built a stockade, and called it Campus 
Martius. In 1780, President Washington commissioned General Putnam Supreme Judge of the North- 
west Territory; and in 1792, he was appointed a brigadier, under Wayne. He was appointed .sur- 
veyor-general of the United States in 179G; helped to frame the Constitution of Ohio in 1802 ; and 
then retired to private life. He died at Marietta in 1824. at the ago of eighty-six: years. He is 
called the Father of Ohio. 





v^ 



OJ I Jllif 
iwlltLRVtiun of "IV \siiin( ton 

SIXTH PERIOD. 

THE CONFEDERATION. 



GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 



CHAPTER I. 

WASHINGTON'S ADMINISTRATION. 
1789—1797. 

When the FetJeral Constitutiou had 
received the ap{)roval of the people, and 
Avas made the supreme law of the Repub- 
lic, all minds and hearts seemed spontaneously turned toward Washington as 
the best mau to perform the responsible duties of chief magistrate of the nation. 
On the 6th of April, 1789, he was chosen President of the United States by 
the unanimous vote of the electors," and John Adams was made Vice-President. 
The journey of Washington from Mount Vernon to New York, was like a 
triumphal march. He had scarcely left his porter's lodge, when he was met 
by a company of gentlemen from Alexandria, who escorted him to that tOAvn. 
Everywhere the people gathered to see him as he passed along the road. Towns 
sent out committees to receive him, and public addresses and entertainments 

' "We have observed that Gouverneur Morris was one of the committee to make the final revision 
of the Constitution. The committee placed it in his hands, and that instrument, in language and 
jErenernl management, is the work of that eminent man. Gouverneur Morris was born near New 
York, in 1752. He was a lawyer, and was always active in public life. In 1792 he was appointed 
minister to France, and after his return he was a legislator for many years. He died in 1816. 

^ Note 1, page 361. 



I7S9.] 



WASHINGTON'S ADMINISTRATION. 



36^ 



were given in bis lionor, in many places. Militia companies escorted liim from 
place to place, and firing of cannons and ringing of bells, announced his approach 
to the large towns. At Trenton, his reception was peculiar and gratifying. It 
was arranged by the ladies. Over Trenton bridge an arch was thrown, which 
was adorned with laurel leaves and flowers from the conservatories. Upon the 



X>^;^S^^, 




crown, and formed of leaves and flowers, were the words, " December 26, 
1776 ;" ' and on the sweep beneath was the sentence, also formed of flowers : 
"The Defender of the Mothers will be the Protector of the 
Daughters." Beneath that arch the President was met by a troupe of 
females. As he approached, a group of little girls, bearing each a basket, 
commenced strewing flowers in the road, and the whole company, young and 
old, joined in singing the following ode, written for the occasion by Governor 
Howell : 

••Welcome, mighty chief, once more 
Welcome to this grateful shore. 
Now no mercenary foe 
Aims again the fatal blow — 

Aims at Thee the fatal blow. 
Virgins fair and matrons grave. 
Those thy conquering arm did save, 
Build for thee triumphal bowers — 
Strew your hero's way with flowers!" 



" Pase 2G2. 



366 



THE CONFEDERATION. 



[ITSn. 



Washington reached New York on the 23(1 of April, 1789. On the 
30th he appeared upon the street-gallery of the old City Hall' in New York. 
and there, in tlie presence of an immense concourse of people assembled in 
front, the oath of office was administered to him by Chancellor Livingston.' 




After delivering an impressive address to the members of both Houses of Con- 
gress, the President and the representatives of the people Avent in solemn pro- 
cession to St. Paul's Church, and there invoked the blessings of the Supreme 
Ruler upon the new government just inaugurated. 

Men were never called upon to perform duties of greater responsibility, than 
those which demanded the consideration of Washington and his compeers. The 
first session of Congress^ was chiefly occupied in the organization of the new 
government, and in the elaborating of schemes for the future prosperity of the 
Republic. The earliest eiforts of that body were directed to the arrangement 
of a system of revenues, in order to adjust and regulate the wretched financial 

' Tt stood on tlie site of the present Custom House, corner of Wall and Broad-streets. In the 
picture on page 3G4. a correct representation of its street-gallery is given. 

^ One of the committee [note 2, page 251] to draft the DecL'.ration of Independence. He was 
horn in New York in 1*747, became a lawyer, and was always an active public man. He was 
minister to France in 1801, when he purchased Louisiana for tlie United States. See page 390. Ho 
joined Robert Fulton in ?teamboat experiments [page 398], and died in 1813. 

^ Meml^ers of tire House of Representatives are elected to seats for two years, and they hold 
two sessions or sittine-s during tliat time. Each full term is called a Congress. Now [1856-571 
our representatives are in the third session of the thirty-fourth Congress. The second was an extra 
session of a few days. Senators are elected by the State Legislatures to serve six years. 



1797.] WASHINGTON'S ADMINISTRATION. qq'j 

affairs of the country.' This subject was brought forward hj Madison,' the 
tacitly acknowledged leader in the House of Representatives, two days after the 
votes for President and Vice-President had been counted. Pursuant to his su^. 
gestion. tonnage duties were levied, and also a tariff, or duties upon foreicrn 
goods imported into the United States. These duties w^ere made favorable to 
American shipping. This was the commencement of our present, though con- 
siderably modified, revenue system. 

Having made provision for the collection of revenue, Congress next turned 
its attention to the reorganizationof the executive departments. Three — Treas- 
ury, War, and Foreign Affairs — were created, the heads of which were to be 
styled secretaries, instead of ministers, as in Europe. These the President 
might appoint or dismiss Avith the concurrence of the Senate. They were to 
constitute a cabinet council, always ready for consultation with the President, 
on public afiliirs, and bound to give him their opinions in writing, when 
re(|uired. 

It may be instructive to take a brief retrospective view of the progress of 
legislative action concerning the commerce of the United States from the close 
of the Revolution until the time in question. In March, 1783, the younger 
Pitt' proposed in the British Parliament, a scheme for the temporary regulation 
of commercial intercourse between Great Britain and the United States. Its 
chief feature was the free admission into the British West India ports of American 
vessels laden with the products of American industry — the West India people, 
in turn, to be allowed like free trade with the United States. The proposition 
was rejected, and soon an order went forth from the Privy Council,^ for the 
entire exclusion of American vessels from West India ports, and prohibiting the 
importation there of several products of the United States, even in British bot- 
toms. Notwithstanding this unwise and narrow policy was put in force, Mr. 
Adams, the American minister at the court of St. James, proposed, in 1785, 
to place the navigation and trade between all the dominions of the British crown 
and all the territories of the United States, upon a basis of perfect reciprocity. 
This generous offer was not only declined, but the minister Avas haughtily 
assured that no other would be entertained, \\liereupon Mr. Adams imme- 
diately recommended the United States to pass navigation acts for the benefit 
of their commerce. 

Some individual States attempted to legislate upon commercial matters 
and the subject of duties for revenue, but their efforts were comparatively 
fruitless. The importance of having the united action of all the States, in 
framing general navigation Liws, was clearly perceived, and this perception was 
one of the chief causes which led to the Convention that formed the Federal 
Constitution." The new government was inaugurated in due time, and, as we 
have mentioned, the earliest efforts of Congress, under the new order of things, 
were the consideration of schemes for imposing discriminating duties." These 

' Page 353. » Note 5, page 356. ' Page 217. 

" Note 1, page 400. » Page 355. * Page 366. 



;3(5g THE CONFEDERATION. [1789. 

measures immediately opened the blind eyes of British legislators to the neces- 
sity of a reciprocity in trade between the two countries. They saw th;it Amer- 
ican commerce was no longer at the mercy of thirteen distinct legislative bodies, 
as under the old Confederation, nor subject to the control of the king and his 
council. They perceived that its interests were guarded and its strength nur- 
tured, by a central power, of wonderful energy, and soon haughty Britain 
became the suppliant. Soon after the passage of the revenue laws by Con- 
gress, a committee of Parliament proposed to ask the United States to con- 
sent to an arrangement precisely the same as that suggested by Mr. Adams, 
six years before, which was so scornfully rejected. The proposition Avas met 
by generous courtesy on the part of the United States ; yet it was not until 
1816, when the second war for Independence' had been some time closed, that 
reciprocity treaties fiirly regulated the commerce between the two countries. 

Durino- the period here referred to, another great commercial interest, then 
in embryo, was under contemplation and discussion, by a few men of forecast. 
It was that of the production of Cotton. Primarily it is an agricultural inte- 
rest, but now, when nearly all the cotton used on the continent of Europe is grown 
in the United States, it has become a great commercial interest. Among the first 
and most powerful advocates of the cultivation of this plant, was Tench Coxe,^ of 
Philadelphia, who, as early as 1785, when he was only thirty years of age, pub- 
lished the fjict that he ' ' felt pleasing convictions that the United States, in its 
extensive regions south of Anne Arundel and Talbot counties, Maryland, would 
certainly become a great cotton-producing country."' And while the Federal 
Convention was in session in Philadelphia, in 1787, "Mr. Coxe delivered a powerful 
public address on that and kindred subjects, having for his object the establishment 
(;f a society for the encouragement of manufactures and the useful arts. Before 
that time, not a bale of cotton had ever been exported from the United States 
to any other country, and no planter had adopted its cultivation, as a "crop." * 

The Senate was engaged upon the important matter of a Federal judiciary, 
while the House was employed on the Revenue bills. A plan, embodied in a 
bill drafted by Ellsworth of Connecticut,* was, after several amendments, con- 
cuiTcd in by both Iloases. By its provisions, a national judiciary was estab- 
lished, consisting of a supreme court, having one cl^l^f justice, and five associate 

' Page 409. 

^ Tench Coxe was born in Philadelphia, in May, 1155, and, as we have mentioned in the text, 
was one of the earliest advocates of the cotton culture. From 1787 until his death, there was never 
an important industrial movement in which he was not greatly interested, or in which his name 
did not appear prominent. In 1794, while he was the Commissioner of Revenue, at Philadelphia, he 
published a large octavo volume, containing his views, as expressed in speech and writing, on the 
subject of the cotton culture. In 1806, he published an essay on naval power and the encourage- 
ment of manutaetures. The following year he published an essay on the cultivation of cotton, and 
from time to time thereafter, he wrote and published his views on these subjects. He died in July, 
1824, at the age of more than sixty-eight years. See next page. ^ Page 356. 

■• It has been estimated that the entire produce of cotton, in all countries, in 1791, was four 
hundred and ninety millions of pounds, and that the United States produced only one twenty-tifth 
of the entire quantity. In' the year 1855-56, the twelve cotton-growing States of the Union pro- 
duced three millions, five hundred and twenty-six thousand, three hundred and sixty-two bales, of 
four hundred pounds each, making an aggregate of one billion, four hundred and ten millions, five hun- 
dred and forty-four thousand, eight hundred poimds. The whole world did not produce as much cot- 
ton as this, annually, previous to the year 1834. ^ Page 360. 



1797.] 



WASHINGTON'S ADMINISTRATION. 



IGi) 



justices, who were to hold two sessions annually, at the seat of the Federal 
Government.' Circuit and district courts were also established, which had ju- 
risdiction over certain specified cases. Each State was made a district, as were 
also the Territories of Kentucky^ and Maine. ^ The districts, except Kentucky 




and Maine, were grouped together into three circuits. An appeal from these 
lower courts to the Supreme Court of the United States, was allowed, as to 
points of law, in all civil cases when the matter in dispute amounted to two 
thousand dollars. A marshal was to be appointed by the President, for each 
district, having the general powers of a sheriff, Avho was to attend all courts, 
and was authorized to serve all processes. A district attorney, to act for the 
United States in all cases in Avhich the Federal Government might be inter- 
ested, was also to be appointed for each district. Such, in brief outline, and 
in general terms, was the Federal judiciary, organized at the commencement 
of the Government, and still in force, with slight modifications. 

The next business of importnuL-e that engaged the attention of Congress, 



John 



Jav [page 379] of New York, one of the most active and acute lawyers in the conntry, 
was apppointod the first Chief Justice of the United Stntcs; and Edmnnd Randolph, of yrp^JJ- 
was made Attorney-General. Randolpli snceecded Patrick Henry as governor of A'lrgmia, m 1 186, 
and was very active in tlic Convention of 1 7«7. See note 1, page 359. He succeeded Jefferson as 
Sccretiry of State, and died in 1813. Jolm Rut! edge [pac^e 210]. of South Carolina; James Wilson, 
of Pennsylvania; William Cusliing, of Massachusetts ; Robert H. Harrison, of Maryland ; and John 
Blair, of Virginia, were a[)pointed associate judges. " Page 377. Page 45?. 

24 



870 



THE CONFEDERATION. 



[1789. 



•was the proposed amendments to the Federal Constitution, made by the minor- 
ities of the several conventions ■which ratified that instrument. This subject 
was brought forward by Madison, in justice to these minorities, and pursuant 
to pledges which he hud found it necessary to give, in order to secure its ratifi- 
cation in Virginia. These amounted, in the aggregate, to one hundred and 
forty-seven,' besides separate bills of rights proposed by Virginia and New 
York. Many of these amendments were identical in spirit, as, for example, the 
nine propositions l)y Massachusetts were repeated by New Hampshire. And it 
is a singular fict, that of all the proposed amendments, not one, judged by sub- 
sc(pient experience, was of a vital character. How well this illustrates the 
profound wisdom embodied in our Constitution ! Sixteen amendments were 
finally agreed to by Congress, ten of which were subsequently ratified by the 
States, and became a part of the Federal compact." After a session of almost 
six months. Congress adjourned,' on the 29th of September [1T89J, and Wash- 
ington, having appointed his cabinet council,^ made a brief tour through the 
northern and eastern States, to make himself better acquainted with the people 
and their resources.^ 

On the 8th of January, 1790, the second session of the first Congress com- 
menced, during which Alexander Hamilton," the first Secretary of the Treasury, 
made some of those able financial reports Avhich established the general line of 
national policy for more than twenty years. On his recommendation, the gen- 
eral government assumed the public foreign and domestic debt incurred by the 
late war,'^ and also the State debts contracted during that period. The foreign 
debt, including interest, due to France and to private lenders in Holland, with 
a small sum to Spain, amounted to $11,710,378. The domestic debt, regis- 
tered and unregistered, including interest, and some claims, principally the out- 
standing continental money,^ amounted to |;42.414,085. Nearly one third of 
this was the arrears of interest. As the government certificates, continental 



23 



The minority of the Pennsylvania Convention proposed 14; of Massachusetts, 9; of Maryland, 
of South Carolina, 4; of New Hampshire, 12; of Virginia, 20; of New York, 32. 
'^ See Supplement. 

' A few days before the adjournment, a resolution was adopted, requesting the President of the 
United States to recommend a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by the people 
of the nation, in acknowledgment of the many signal favors of tlie Almighty, in permitting them to 
estal}lis]i, in peace, a free government. 

* Alexander Hamilton was appointed Secretary of the Treasury; 
Henry Knox, Secretary of War ; and Thomas Jefferson, Secretary 
of Foreign Affairs. Jefferson was then United States minister at the 
court of France, and did not enter upon his diities until March, 1790. 
The office of Secretary of the Navy was not created until the pres- 
idency of Mr. Adams. Naval affairs were under the control of the 
Secretary of War. General Kno.x; was one of tlie most efficient 
officers of the Revolution, having, from the beginning, the chief com- 
mand of the artillery. He entered the army as captain of artillery, 
and rose to the rank of major-general. Note 4, page 350. 

'•" Washington was everywhere received with great honors ; and 
Trumljull, author of M'Fingal, wrote to his friend, Oliver Wolcott : 
" We have gone through all the popish grades of worship; and the 
President returns all fragrant with the odor of incense." 




GEXERAL KXOX. 



Note 2, page 360 
Note 2, page 253. 
Page 245. 



In that note the amount given is the principal, without the interest. 



1797.] WASHINGTON'S ADMINISTRATION. 37^ 

bills, and other evidences of debt, were now held chiefly by speculators, who 
had purchased them at reduced rates, the idea had been put forth by prominent 
men, that it would be proper and expedient to apply a scale of depreciation, as 
in the case of the paper money toward the close of the war,' in liquidating these 
claims. But Hamilton opposed it as dishonest and impolitic, arguing, in sup- 
port of the latter objection, that public credit was essential to the new Federal 
Government. He therefore urged that all the debts of the government should 
be met according to the terms of the contract. He proposed the funding of the 
public debt, in a fair and economical way, by which the public creditors should 
receive their promised six per cent, interest, until the Government should be 
able to pay the principal, the Secretary assuming that, in five years, the 
United States might effect loans at five, and even at four per cent., with which 
these claims might be liquidated. He proposed to have the proceeds of the 
post-ofBce" as a sinking fund, for the gradual extinction of the debt. After 
much debate, the propositions of Hamilton, in general, were agreed to by Con- 
gress, on the 9th of March, 1790.^ A system of revenue from imposts and 
internal excise, proposed by Hamilton, was also adopted. A petition from 
the Society of Friends, or Quakers, presented on the 11th of February, on the 
subject of slavery, caused long, and, sometimes, acrimonious debates. An act 
was also passed, during this session, making the District of Columbia the per- 
manent seat of the Federal Government, after the lapse of ten years from that 
date. 

The First Congress commenced its third session^ in December, 1790. and 
before its close, measures were adopted which laid the foundations of public 
credit and national prosperity, deep and abiding. During tb.o two years in 
which the new government had been engaged in the business of organization, a 
competent revenue had been provided for ; the public debt, national and State, 
had been funded, and the interest thereon had been provided for ; a national 
judiciary, wise in all its features, had been established ; and the nation, in 
its own estimation and that of other States of the w^orld, had taken a proud 
position in the great political family. North Carolina [Nov. 21, 1789] and 
Rhode Island [May 29, 1790], had already become members of the Confeder- 
acy, by ratifying the Constitution ;'' and during this session, Vermont'' had been 
admitted [Fel). 18, 1791] as a sovereign State. Settlements were now rapidly 
spreading beyond the Alleghanies," and the subject of territorial organizations 

' Not3 3, page 245. " Page .173. 

^ The President wa.s .authorized to borrow $12,000,000, if necessary, to pay off the foreign debt; 
and a new loan was to be opened, payable in certilicates, of the domestic debt, at their par value, 
and in continental bills of credit, at tlie rate of one hundred for one. Congress also authorized an 
additional loan, payable in certificates of the State debts, to the amount of $21,500,000. These 
certificates were those which had been issued for services or supjilics, during the war. A new 
board of commissioners was appointed, with full power to settle all claims on general principles of 
equity. * Note 3, page 366. * Page 360.^ 

^ Vermont was originally called the New Hampshire Grants, and was claimed by both New 
York and New Hampshire. In 1777, the people met in convention, and proclaimed the territory 
an independent State. After purchasing the claims of New York for $30,000, it was admitted into 
the Union. 

'' The first census, or enumeration of the inhabitants of the United States, was completed in 
1791. The number of aU sexes and colors, was 3,929,000. The number of slaves was 695,000. 



372 THE CONFEDERATION. [1789. 

was pressed upon the consideration of Congress. Already the Noi^tli-ioestern 
To-ritory, as we have seen,' had been established [Julj, 1787J, and Tennessee 
had been constituted [March 20, 1790] the Territory South-vest of the Ohio." 

The subject of a national currency early engaged the attention of Congress, 
and at the commencement of the last session of the First Congress, a bill for 
the establishment of a national bank was introduced into the Senate, in accord- 
ance Avith the suggestion and plan of Hamilton. At that time the whole bank- 
ing capital in the United States was only $i2, 000, 000, invested in the Bank of 
North America, at Philadelphia, established by Robert Morris ;' the Bank of 
Ncic York, in New York city, and the Bank of Massachusetts, in Boston. 
The charter w\as limited to twenty years ; its location was to be in the city of 
Philadelphia, and its management to be intrusted to twenty-five directors. 
Although chartered in January, 1791, the National Bank did not commence 
its operations, in corporate form, until in February, 1794, Avlien it began with 
a capital of fl 0,000, 000. 

Early in the first session of the second Congress, the important subject of 
a national mint received the attention of the representatives of the people. That 
subject had been frequently discussed. As early as 1782, the topic of coins 
and currency had been presented to the Continental Congress, by Gouverneur 
]\Iorris, in an able report, written at the request of Robert Morris. In 1784, 
]Mr. Jefferson, as chairman of a committee appointed for the purpose, submitted 
a report, agreeing with Morris in regard to a decimal system, but entirely dis- 
agreeing with him in the details.^ He proposed to strike four coins, namely, 
a golden piece of the value of ten dollars ; a dollar, in silver ; a tenth of a dol- 
lar, in silver; and a hundredth of a dollar, in copper. In 1785, Congress 
adopted ]\Ir. Jefierson's report, and made legal provision, the following year, 
for a coinage upon that basis. This Avas the origin of our cent, dime, dol'ar, 
and ea(j/e. Already several of the States had issued copper coins f but the 
Federal Constitution vested the right of coinage solely in the Federal Govern- 
ment. The establishment of a Mint was delayed, however, and no special action 
in that direction was taken until 1790, when Mr. Jefferson, then Secretary of 

' rage 3G2. 

" The subject of the public lands of the United States has always been one of interest. The 
first act of Congress, on the subject of limited sales, was in accordance with a scheme proposed by 
Hamilton, in 1790, which provided in some degree for the protection of small purchasers. Previous 
to that, not less than a' tract of four thousand acres could be purchased. This was calculated to 
make lalior subservient to wealth, in new settlements. Hamilton's scheme was highlj' approved. 
The minimum price of public land, previous to 1800, was two dollars per acre ; since then, one dol- 
lar and twenty-five cents. The extent of the public domain has greatly increased, by accessions, 
within a few years. At the close of 1855, there remained unsold about 96.000.000 of acres of sur- 
veyed public domain, and of the unsurveyed, about l.'iG.OOO.OOO of acres, worth, in the aggregate, 
.about $276,000,000. The average cost to the government, per acre, of acquiring title, surveying, 
sellintr, and managing, is about 22 cents per acre, while it sells at $1.25 per acre, or a net profit of 
Cl.oi. ^ Note 3, page 2G.4. 

'' Morris attempted to harmonize the moneys of all the States. Starting with an asceitained 
f.-.iction as an unit, for a divisor, he proposed the following table of moneys : 

Ten units to be equal to one pennj-. 

Ten pence to one bill. 

Ten bills one dollar (or about seventy-five cents of our currency). 

Ten dollars one croN\'n. 
^ Note 4, pa;;o 1'12. 



1797.] WASHINGTO^''S, ADMINISTRATION. 373 

State, urged the matter upon the attention of Congress. Still there was delay, 
until on the 2d of April, 1792, laws were enacted for the establishment of a 
Mint. During three years from that time, its operations were chiefly experi- 
mental, and long debates were had concerning the devices for the new coins.' 
The Mint was finally put into full operation, in 1795," and has continued to 
increase in its issues of coin, ever since.^ 

A bill for the organization of a post-oflSce system, was passed during the 
same session that measures were adopted for the establishment of a Mint. Very 
soon after the commencement of the first session of the first Congress, a letter 
was received from Ebenezer Hazzard [July 17, 1789], then postmaster-general 
under the old Confederation, suggesting the importance of some new regula- 
tions for that department. A bill for the temporary establishment of the post 
office was passed soon afterward. The subject was brought up, from time to 
time, until the present system was organized in 1792. The postmaster-general 
was not made a cabinet officer until the first year [1829] of President Jack- 
son's administration.* 

British agents on the north-western frontier continued to tamper with the 
Indians, and excite them to hostilities against the United States, for several 
years after the peace of 1783.^ And, contrary to the terms of that treaty, the 
British held possession of western posts belonging to the United States. These 
facts caused a prevalent belief that the British government yet hoped for an 
opportunity to bring the new Republic back to colonial dependence. The pub- 
lic mind in America became excited, and the fact, that Sir John Johnston*^ was 
the British Indian agent on that frontier, and Sir Guy Carleton (then Lord 
Dorchester) was again governor of Canada,' strengthened that opinion and 
apprehension. Finally, in the spring of 1790, the fostered discontents of the 
Indians were developed into open hostilities. Attempts at pacific arrangements 
were fruitless, and General Harmer was sent into the Indian country north of 
the present Cincinnati, with quite a strong force, to desolate their villages and 



^ The Senate proposed the head of the President of the United States who should occupy the 
chair at the time of the coinage. In the House, the head of Liberty was suggested, as being less 
aristocratic than that of the President — having less the stamp of royalty. The head of Liberty was 
tiually adopted. 

* The iirst mint was located in Philadelphia, and remained the sole issuer of coin, in the United 
States, until 1835, when a branch was established ui each of the States of Georgia, North Carolina, 
and Louisiana — in Charlotte, Dahlonega, and New Orleans. These three branches went into oper- 
ation in the years 1837-38. 

^ From 1793 to 1795, ihe value of the whole issue was a little more than a million and a half 
of dollars. For the last three or four years, the amount has exceeded sixty millions annually. Pre- 
vious to the year 1830, almost the entire supply of gold for our coinage was furnislied by foreign 
countries. North Carolina was the first State of the Union that sent gold to the mint from its 
mines. Since then, almost every State has made contributions, some very small. But the young- 
est State of all, California [See page 497], has outstripped them all, liaving sent to the mint, at 
the close of 1854, gold to the amount of ,$204,250,000 of the $273,609,000 worth, the amount of the 
entire deposit of domestic gold. Altogether, the yield of the CaUfornia mines now [1856] may bo 
fairly estimated, in round numbers, at, at least, $500,000,000. 

* Page 459. The operations of the post-office department increased very rapidly year after year. 
In 1795, the number of post-office routes was 453 over 13.207 miles of travel. The revenue of the 
department was .$160,620. Now [1856] the number of routes is over 25,000; the number of milea 
traveled, fiill 220,000; and the revenue nearly $7,000,000. 

' Page 348. " Note 2, page 278. ' P;ige 240. 



374 THE CONFEDERATION. [1789. 

crops, as Sullivan did those of the Senecas in 1779.* In this he succeeded, but 
in two battles [Oct. 17 and 22, 1790J, near the present village of Fort Wayne, 
in Indiana, he was defeated, Avith considerable loss. The following year, an 
expedition of Kentucky volunteers, under General Scott, marched against the 
Indians on the V/abash. General Wilkinson led a second expedition against 
them, in July following, and in September, General St. Clair,"' then governor 
of the North-west Territory, marched into the Indian country, with two thou- 
sand men. While in camp near the northern line of Darke county, Ohio, on 
the borders of Indiana, he was surprised and defeated [Nov. 4, 1791] by the 
Indians, with a loss of about six hundred men. 

The defeat of St. Clair produced great alarm on the whole north-western 
frontiei-. Even the people of Pittsburg' did not feel secure, and the border 
settlers called loudly for help. Fortunately the Indians did not follow up the 
advantage they had gained, and for a while hostihties ceased. Commissioners 
were appointed to treat with them, but through the interference of British 
officials, their negotiations were fruitless. General Wayne^ had been appointed, 
in the mean Avhile, to succeed St. Clair in military command, and apprehend- 
ing that the failure of the negotiations would be followed by an immediate 
attack upon the frontier settlements, he marched into the Indian country in the 
autumn of 1703. He spent the winter at Greenville,'^ near the place of St. 
Clair's defeat, where he built Fort Recovery. The following summer [1794] 
he pushed forward to the Maumee River, and built Fort Defiance ;" and on the 
St. Mary's he erected Fort Adam? as an intermediate post. On the 16th of 
August he went down the Maumee, with three thousand men, and not far from 
the present Maumee City,' he fought and defeated the Indians, on the 20th of 
the s.ame month. He then laid waste their country, and after a successful 
campaign of about ninety days, he went into winter quarters at Greenville. 
There, the following year, the chiefs and warriors of the western tribes, in all 
about eleven hundred, met [August 3, 1795] commissioners of the United 
States, made a treaty of peace, and ceded to the latter a large tract of land in 
the present States of Michigan" and Indiana. After that, the United States 
had very little trouble Avith the western Indians until just before the breaking 
out of the war of 1812-15.'' 

Party spirit, w'hich had been engendered during the discussions of the 
Federal Constitution,'" gradually assumed distinct forms, and during the second 
session of the second Congress, it became rampant among the people, as well as 
in the national legislature. • Hamilton and Jefierson, the heads of distinct 

CI ' 

(k'jiartments" in Washington's calnnet, differed materially concerning important 
public measures, and then, under the respective leadership of those statesmen, 



' Pasro 304. = Page 276. ' Page 205. ■• Page 298. Mu Darke county, Ohio. 

" At the junction of the Au Glaize with the Maumee River, in tlie south-east part of Williams 
county, Ohio. 

' In the town of Waynesfield. The British then occupied a fort at the Maumee Rapids, 
near liy. 

*' Tlie Britisli held possession of Detroit, and nearly all Michigan, until 1796. See page 380. 

^ Page 409. " Page 3G0. " Page 367. 



^5r^V. 







Wayne's Defeat of the Indians. 



1797.] WASHINGTON'S ADMINISTRATION. 377 

were drawn those lines of party distinction known as Federalist and Repub- 
lican, which continued for a quarter of a century. The Federalist party was 
composed of those who favored great concentration of power in the general gov- 
ernment. The Republicans, on the contrary, were for diffusing power amoii<T 
the people. Here were antagonistic points of great diflFerence, and the warfare 
between the parties was acrimonious in the extreme. 

During the summer of 1792, very little of public interest occurred, except 
the admission [June 1] of Kentucky' into the Union, but the marshalling of 
forces for the presidential election, which was to take place in the autumn. 
Washington yearned for the quiet of private life, and had expressed his deter- 
mination to withdraw from public station on the expiration of his presidential 
term ; but it was made evident to his mind, that the great majority of the 
people desired his continuance in office, and that the public safety demanded 
it. Under these circumstances, he consented to be a candidate, and he and 
Adams were re-elected by large majorities. 

Yet the Republican party was daily gaining strength, partly from develop- 
ments within the body politic of the United States, and partly from events then 
transpiring in Europe. A bloody revolution was in progress in France. The 
people there had abolished monarchy, and murdered their king, and the new 
Republic in name (a political chaos in reality), having the avowed sympathies 
of the Republican party in America,* sent M. Genet' as its minister to the 
United States, to obtain the co-operation of the American people. The French 
Republic had declared Avar against England, Spain, and Holland, and needed 
transatlantic assistance. Remembering the recent alliance,^ and sympathizing 
with all eiforts for popular freedom, the Republican party here, and also many 
of the Federalists, received Genet (who arrived at Charleston, South Carolina, 
in April, 1793) with open arms, and espoused his cause. 

But Genet's zeal outstripped his prudence, and defeated his plans. "With- 
out waiting for an expression of opinions or intentions from the government of 
the United Scates, he began to fit out privateers^ in our ports, to depredate 
upon English, Dutch, and Spanish property f and when Washington prudently 
issued [May 9, 1793] a proclamation, declaring it to be the duty and the inter- 



' Kentucky, which had been settled chiefly by Virginians, and was claimed as a part of tho 
territory of that State, was now erected into a sovereign member of the confederation. Its first 
settlement, as we have seen [note 2, page 300], was at Boonesboro', by Daniel Boone, in 1775. 

' There was a general burst of enthusiasm in the United States, on receipt of the intelligence of 
the advent of Liberty in France, and public demonstrations of it were made in several places. In 
Boston, an ox, roasted whole, was placed upon a car drawn bj- sixteen horses, and with the Amer- 
ican and French Hags displayed from its iiorns, was paraded through the streets, followed by carts, 
bearing bread and two hogsheads of punch, which were distriljuted among the people. A civic 
feast was held at Faneuil Hall, over which Samuel Adams [note 1, page 221] presided. In Phil- 
adelphia the anniversary of the French alliance [page 283] was celebrated by a pubUc dinner, at 
which General Mifflin [page 3r)2] presided ; and in other places festivals were held. 

^ Edmund Charles (ieuet was the son of a distinguished public man in France. He married, in 
this country, a daughter of Governor George Clinton [note 5. page 350], and remained in the 
United States. He died at Greenbush, opposite Albany, in 1834, aged about seventv-two vears. 

* Page 283. _ =• Note 1^ page "246. 

" These cruisers brought captured vessels into our ports, and French consuls actually held 
courts of admiralty, and authorized the sale of the prizes. All this was done before Genet was 
recognized as a mmister by the American government. 



378 THE CONFEDERATION. [1789. 

est of the people of the United States to preserve a strict neutrality toward the 
contending powers of Europe, Genet persisted, and tried to excite hostility 
between our people and their government. \Yashington finally requested and 
obtained his rccal, and Fauchet, who succeeded him in 1 794, was instructed to 
assure the President that the French government disapproved of Genet's con- 
duct. No doubt tlie prudence and firmness of Washington, at this time, saved 
our Republic from utter ruin. 

A popular outbreak in western Pennsylvania, known in history as The 
Whiskey Insurrection, gave the new government much trouble in 1794. An 
excise law, passed in 1791, which imposed duties on domestic distilled liquors, 
was very unpopular. A new act, passed in the spring of 1794, was equally 
unpopular ; and when, soon after the adjournment of Congress, officers were 
sent to enforce it in the western districts of Pennsylvania, they Avere resisted 
by the people, in arms. The insurrection became general throughout all that 
region, and in the vicinity of Pittsburg many outrages were committed. 
Buildings were burned, mails were robbed, and government officers were in- 
sulted and abused. At one time there were between six and seven thousand 
insurgents under arms. The local militia would have been utterly impotent to 
restore order, if their aid had been given. Indeed, most of the militia assem- 
bled in response to a call made by the leaders of the insurgents, and these com- 
posed a large portion of the " rebels." The insurgent spirit extended into the 
border counties of Virginia ; and the President and his cabinet, perceiving, with 
alarm, this imitation of the lawlessness of French politics, took immediate steps 
to crush the growing hydra. The President first issued two proclamations 
[August 7, and September 25], but without effect. After due consideration, 
and the exhaustion of all peaceable means, he ordered out a large body of the 
militia of Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, Avho marched to 
the insurgent district, in October [1794], under the command of General 
Henry Lee. then governor of Virginia.^ This last argument was effectual ; and 
soon this insurrection, like that of Shays's, of Massachusetts, some years 
earlier," which threatened the stability of the Federal Government, was 
allayed. 

Another cloud was now vising in the political horizon. While these inter- 
nal commotions were disturbing the public tranquillity, a bitter feeling was 
growing up between the American and British governments. Each accused 
the other of infractions of the treaty of 1783,^ and the disputes, daily assuming 
a more bitter tone, threatened to involve the two nations in anotlier wai". The 
Americans complained that no indemnification had licen made for negroes car- 
ried away at the close of the Revolution ;' that the British held military posts 
on their frontiers, contrary to the treaty ;' that British emissaries had excited 
the hostility of the Indians ;" and that, to retaliate on France, the English had 



' Page 33.3. - Page 353. = Page 348. 

■• During the last two years of the war in the Cnrolinas and Georgia, and at the final evacua- 
tion, the British plundered many plantations, and sold the ncaroes in the "West Indies. 

" Kot;- S, page 374. ^ e Page 373. 



1797.] 



WASHINGTON'S ADMINISTRATION. 



379 



captured our neutral vessels, and impressed our seamen into the British service. ' 
The British complained that stipulations concerning the property of loyalists,' 
and also in relation to debts contracted in England before the Revolution, had 
not been complied Avith. In order to avert an event so very undesirable as 
a war with Great Britain, the President proposed to send a special envoy to the 
British court, in hopes of bringing to an amicable settlement, all matters in 
dispute between the two governments. The Federal Legislature approved of it, 




J^yi^/oA 




and on the 19th of April, 1794, John Jay' was appointed an envoy extraordi- 
nary for the purpose. 

The special minister of the United States was received with great courtesy 
in Eno;land. where he arrived in June : and he negotiated a treaty which, at the 
time, was not very satisfactory to a large portion of his countrymen. It hon- 
estly provided for the collection of debts here, by British creditors, which had 



' This practice was one of the causes which finally" produced a war between the two nations, 
in 1812. See page 409. 

' The lo.yalists, or Tories [note 4, page 22G], wlio liad fled from the country during the prog- 
ress, or at the close of tlic War for Independence, and ^s hose property had been confiscated, 
endeavoured to regain their estates, and also indemnity for their otlicr losses. The British govern- 
ment finally paid to these sufferers more than ,$15,000,000. 

' John Jay was a descendant of a Huguenot family [page 49], and was born in the city of New 
York in 1745. He was early in the ranks of active patriots, and rendered very important services 
during the Revolution. After the war he was one of the most efficient of our countrymen in laying 
the foundations of our Federal Government, and of establishing the civil government of his native 
State, of which he was chief magistrate at one time. He retired from public life in 1801, and 
died in 1829, at the age of eighty-four years. His residence was at Bedford, Westchester county^ 
New York. 



880 



THE CONFEDERATION. 



[1789. 



been contracted before the Revolution, but it procured no redress for those who 
had lost negroes. It secured indemnity for unlawful captures on the seas, and 
the evacuation of the forts on the frontiers (yet held by the British), by the 1st 
of June, 1796. In order to secure certain points of great importance. Jay was 




compelled to yield others ; and he finally signed a treaty, defective, in some 
things, and objectionable in others, but the best that could then be obtained. 
The treaty gave rise to violent debates in Congress,' and in State Legislatures, 
but was ratified by the Senate on the 24th of June, 1795.' The wisdom, 

■ The debates, onHhat occasion, developed talent of the highest order, and present a memorable 
epoch in the history of American politics and statesmanship. Albert Gallatin then established 
liis title to the leadership of the opposition in the House of Representatives, while Fisher Ames, in a 
speech of wonderful power, in favor of the treaty and the Adminit^tration, won for himself the 
laurels of an unrivaled orator. He was then in feeble health ; and when he aro-se to speak, tliin 
and pale, he could hardly support himself on his feet, and his voice was feeble. Strength sc emed 
to come as he warmed with tlie subject, and his eloquence and wisdom poured forth as Irom a 
mighty and inexhaustible fountain. So powerful was his speecli, that a member opposed to him 
moved that the question on wliich he had spoken should be postponed until the next da}-, " tliat 
they should not act under the influence of an excitement of which their calm judgment might not 
approve." In allusion to this speech, John Adams bluntly said: "There wasn't a dry eye in the 
House, except some of the jackasses that occasioned the necessity of the oratory." Fisher Ames 
was born in Dedham, Massachusetts, in April, 1756. His health was delicate from infancy. _ He 
was so precocious that he commenced the study of Latin when six years of age, and was admitted 
to Harvard College at the age of twelve. He chose the law for a profession, and soon stood at the 
head of the bar m his native district. He was a warm advocate of the Federal Constitution. He 
was the first representative of his district in the Federal Congress. He died on the 4th of July, 
1808, at the age of forty-eight years. 

^ Great excitement succeeded. In several cities mobs threatened personal violence to the sup- 



1797.] WASHINGTON'S ADMINISTRATION. gg| 

and policy, and true patriotism of Mr. Jay were soon made manifest. In Oc- 
tober following, a treaty was concluded with Spain, by which the boundaries be- 
tween the Spanish territories of Louisiana and Florida, and the United States, 
were defined. That treaty also secured to the United States the free naviga- 
tion of the Mississippi, and the use of New Orleans, as a port, for ten years. 

As soon as one excitement was fairly allayed, causes for others appeared ; 
and during the whole time of Washington's administration of eight years, wlicn 
the policy of the new government had to be established, and its machinery put 
in operation, the greatest wisdom, circumspection, and conservative action, on 
the part of officials, were continually demanded. Difficulties appeared like 
little clouds on the distant horizon, sometimes as mere specks, at others, in 
alarming shapes. These were chiefly in connection with trade, especially in 
foreign lands. American commerce was rapidly expanding, and now began to 
find its way into the Mediterranean Sea. There it was met by Algerino 
pirates, who seized the merchandise, and held the seamen in captivity, in order 
to procure ransom-money. These depredations, which finally gave rise to efforts 
to organize a navy, had continued many years before the government took 
active measures to suppress them. President Washington called the attention 
of Congress to the subject, toward the close of 1790; and at the same time, 
Jefferson, then Secretary of State, gave many interesting details, in his annual 
report, on the subject of these piracies. A commissioner Avas sent to treat with 
the Dey, or Governor, of Algiers on the subject, but that semi-barbarian robber 
argued in reply : " If I were to make peace with everybody, what should I do 
with my corsairs ? what should I do with my soldiers ? They would take off 
my head for the want of other prizes, not being able to live on their miserable 
allowance." 

In the spring of 1794, Congress, on account of these depredations, passed 
an Act to provide for a naval armament, and appropriated almost seven hun- 
dred thousand dollars for the purpose. But the United States, in the absence 
of the proposed navy, was compelled to make a treaty of peace in the autumn 
of 1795 [November 28], with the Dey of Algiers, by which an annual 
tribute was to be given for the redemption of captives, in accordance with th- 
loner-established usages of European nations.' This was humiliating, but could 
not then be avoided. Congress had given the President power to provide by 
purchase or otherwise, and equip, several vessels. To this end he put forth 
his energies immediately, and in July [1794], he commissioned captains and 
superintendents, naval constructors and navy agents, six each. an<l ordered the 
construction of six ships. The treaty with the Dey of Algiers caused work on 



inrters of the treaty. Mr Jay was burned in effigy [note 6, page 215], Mr. Hamilton was stoned 
at a public meeting, and the British minister at Philadelphia was insulted. 

' Between the years 1785 and 1793, the Algerino pirates captured and carried into Algiers, 
lifteen American vessels, used the property, and made one hundred and eighty officers and seamen 
slaves of the most revolting kind. In 1795, the United vStates agreed, by treaty, to pay eight hun- 
dred thousand dollars for captives, then alive, and in addition, to make the dey, or governor, a 
jiresent of a frigate worth a hundred thousand dollars. An annual tribute of twenty-three thousand 
dollars was also to be paid. This was complied with until the breaking out of the war pf 1813^ 
See pages 390 and 445. 



382 THE CONFEDERATION. [1789. 

these vessels to be suspended in 1795. Soon the folly of not completing the 
little navy, so well begun, was made manifest, when British cruisers commenced 
the practice of taking seamen from American vessels, and impressing them into 
the English service.' The ships of the French Republic soon afterAvard com- 
menced depredations upon American commerce ; and in 1797, when war with 
that government seemed inevitable,' Congress, on the urgent recommendation 
of President Adams, caused the frigates United States, Constellathn, and 
Constitution to be completed, equipped, and sent to sea. This was the com- 
mencement of the American navy,' which, in after years, though weak in num- 
bers, performed many brilliant exploits. From this time the navy became the 
•cherished arm of the national defense ; and chiefly through its instrumentality, 
the name and power of the United States began to be properly appreciated in 
Europe, at the beginning of the present century. 

Now [1796], the administration of Washington was drawing to a close. It 
had been one of vast importance and incessant action. All disputes with 
foreign nations, except France,' had been adjusted; government credit was 
established, and the nation was highly prosperous.' The embryos of new em- 
pires beyond the Alleghanies, had been planted ; and the last year of his admin- 
istration was signalized by the admission [June, 1796] of Tennessee into the 
Union of States, making the number of confederated republics, sixteen. 

During the closing months of Washington's administration, the first great 
struggle among the people of the United States, for ascendancy between the 
Federalists and Rejjnblicans,'' took place. The only man on whom the nation 
now could possibly unite, was about to retire to private life. He issued his 
admirable Farewell Address to his countrymen — that address so full of wis- 
dom, patriotism, and instruction — early in the autumn of 1796 [September 19], 
and then the people were fully assured that some other man must be chosen to 
fill his place. There was very little time for preparation or electioneering, for 
the choice must be made in November following. Activity the most extraordi- 
nary appeared among politicians, in every part of the Union. The Federalists 
nominated John Adams for the high office of Chief Magistrate, and the Repub- 
licans nominated Thomas Jefferson for the same. The contest was fierce, and 
party spirit, then in its youthful vigor, was implacable. The result was a vic- 

> Page 401. ^ Page 385. 

^ Congress had created the office of Secretary of the Navy, as an executive department, and on 
the 30th of April, 1798, Benjamin Stoddart, of Georgetown, in the District of Columbia, was 
appointed to that chair. Hitherto the business of the war and navy departments had been per- 
formed by the Secretary of War. 

* The French government was highly displeased because of the treaty made with England, by Mr. 
Jay, and even adopted hostile measures toward the United States. It wanted the Americans to 
show an active participation with the French in hatred of the English, and therefore the strict neu- 
trality observed by Washington, was exceedingly displeasing to the French Committee of Public 
Safety. The conclusion of the treaty with Algiers, independently of French intervention, and the 
success of the negotiation with Spain, excited the jealousy of the French rulers. In a word, 
because the United States, having the strength, assumed the right to stand alone, the French were 
offended, and threatened the grown-up child with personal chastisement. 

'•' Commerce had wonderfully expanded. The exports had, in live years, increased from nine- 
teen millions of dollars to more than fifty-six millions of dollars, and the imports in about the same 
jatio. ' Page 377. 



L801.] 



ADAMS'S ADMINISTRATION. 



383 



tory for both parties — Adams being elected President, and Jefferson, havinrr 
the next highest number of votes, was chosen Vice-President.' On the 4th of 
March, 1797, Washington retired from office, and Adams was inaugurated the 
second President of the United States. The great leader of tlie armies in the 
War for Independence was never again enticed from the quiet pursuits of agri- 
culture at Mount Vernon, to the performance of public duties. 



CHAPTER II. 

ADAMS'S ADMINISTRATION. [17 9-7 — 1801.] 

John Adams' was in the sixty-second year of his age when, dressed in a 
full suit of pearl-colored broadcloth, and with powdered hair, he stood in Inde- 
pendence Hall [March 4, 1797], in Philadelphia, and took the oath of office, 




(fpy^/rijfdmiJ 



' The wlioL' number of electoral votes [see note 1, page 3G1] was one hundred and thirty-eight, 
making seventy necessary to a choice. John Adams received seventy-one. and Jefferson sixty-seven. 

"^ John Adams was born at Braiutree, Massachusetts, in October. 17;?."). lie. chose the law as a 
profession, but being a good \^Titcr and fair speaker, lie entered tlio political field quite early, and 
with Hancock, Oti.s, and others, he took an active part in the earlier Revolutionary movements, in 
Boston and vicinity. Ho was a member of the Continental Congress, from which he was trans- 
ferred to the important post of a minister to the French and other courts in iMirope. lie was one 
of the most industrious men in Congress. In the course of the eighteen moutlis preceding Ixs de- 



384 



THE CONFEDERATION. 



[179"; 



as President of the United States, administered bj Chief Justice Ellsworth.' 
He was pledged, by his acts and declarations, to the general policy of Washing- 
ton's administration, and he adopted, as his own, the cabinet council left by his 
predecessor." He came into office at a period of great trial for the Republic. 
Party spirit and sectional differences were rife in its bosom, and the relations 
of the United States with France were becoming more and more unfriendly. 




Already Charles Cotesworth Pinckncy, the American minister at the French 
court, had been ordered to leave their territory by the Directory, then the su- 
preme executive power in France.' Depredations upon American commerce 
had also been authorized by them; and the French minister in the United 



parture for Europe, Mr. Adams had been on ninety different committees, and was chairman of 
thirty-five of them. He was, at one time, intrusted with no less than six missions abroad, namely, 
to treat for peace with Great Britain; to make a commercial treaty with Great Britain; to negoti- 
ate the same with the States General of Holland ; the same with the Prince of Orange ; to pledge 
the faith of the United States to the Armed Neutrality ; and to negotiate a loan of ten millions of 
dollars. He was a signer of the Declaration of Independence; and died on the fiftieth anniversary 
of that great act [1826], with the words "Independence forever!" upon his lips. He was in the 
ninety-second year of his age. See page 459. ' Page 360. 

- Timothy Pickering, Secretary of State; Oliver "^olcott, Secretary of the Treasury; James 
M'Henry, Secretary of War; and Charles Lee, Attorney-General. "Washington's first cabinet had 
all resigned during the early part of Ids second term of office (the President is elected for four years), 
and the above-named gentlemen were appointed during 1795 and 1796. 

■' The Republican government of Franco was admiuistcn-cd by a council called the /)«>Y'cfori/ It 
was composed of five members, who ruled in connection with two representative bodies, called, rc- 
.spt^ctively, the Council of Ancients, and the Councihof Five Hundred. The Directory v.ns tlio hrad, 
or cx-eoutive power of the government. 



1801.] ADAMS'S ADMINISTRATION. 385 

States had grossly insulted the government. President Adams perceived the 
necessity of. prompt and energetic action, and he convened an extraordinary 
session of Congress, on the 15th of ]May. With the concurrence of the Senate, 
the President appointed [JulyJ three envoys,' with Pinckney at their head, to 
proceed to France, and endeavor to adjust all difficulties. They met at Paris, 
in October, but were refused an audience with the Directory, unless they 
should first pay a large sura of money into the French treasury. Overtures 
for this purpose were made by unofficial agents. The demand was indignantly 
refused ; and then it was that Pinckney uttered that noble sentiment, • • Mil- 
lions for defense, but not one cent for tribute !" The two Federalist envoys 
(Marshall and Pinckney) were ordered out of the country, while Mr. Gerry, 
who was a Republican, and whose party sympathized with the measures of 
France, was allowed to remain. The indignant people of the United States 
censured Mr. Gerry severely for remaining. He, too, soon found that nothing 
could be accomplished with the French rulers, and he returned homo. 

The fifth Congress assembled at Philadelphia, on the 13th of November, 
1797. Perceiving the vanity of further attempts at negotiation with France, 
Congress, and the country generally, began to prepare for war. Quito a largo 
standing army was authorized [May, 1798] ; and as Washington approved of the 
measure, he Avas appointed [July] its commander-in-chief, with General Alex- 
ander Hamilton as his first lieutenant. * Washington consented to accept the 
office only on condition, that General Hamilton should be the acting commander- 
in-chief, for the retired President w^as unwilling to enter into active military serv- 
ice again. A naval armament, and the capture of French vessels of war, was 
authorized; and a naval department, as we have observed,' with Benjamin 
Stoddart at its head, was created. Although there was no actual declaration 
of war made by either party, yet hostilities were commenced on the ocean, and a 
vessel of each nation suffisred capture ;' but the army was not summoned to the 
field. 

The proud tone of the French Directory was humbled by the dignified and 
decided measures adopted by the United States, and that body made overtures 
for a peaceful adjustment of difficulties. President Adams immediately ap- 
pointed [Feb. 26, 1799J three efivoys* to proceed to France, and negotiate for 



• Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Elbridge Gerry, and John Marshall. Pinckney \ras an active 
patriot in Soutli Carohna durinfi: tlie Revolution. He was born in Charleston, in February, 1746, 
and was eduated in England. He studied law there, and on his return to his native country, iu 
1769, he commenced a successful professional career in Charleston. He took part early in R^epub- 
lican movements, held military oflices during the War for Independence, and when war with France 
seemed certain, in 1797, Wasliington appointed him next to Hamilton in command. He died, in 
August, 1825, in the eightieth year of his age. Gerry was one of the signers of the Declaration of 
Independence, and Marshall had been an active patriot and soldier. See page 351. The latter. 
as Chief Justice of the United States, administered the oath of office to several Presidents. 

^ Page 382. 

' The United States frigate Constellation, captured the French frigate L Insurgmie, in February, 

1799. That frigate had already taken the American schooner Retaliation. On the 1st of February, 

1800, the Constellation had an action with the French frigate La Vengeance, but escaped capture 
after a loss of one hundred and sixty men, in killed and wounded. 

* W. V. Murray, Oliver Ellsworth, and Patrick Henr.y. Mr. Henry declined, and William R. 
Davie [note 5, page 31SJ, of North Carohna., took his place. 

•2;i 



386 THE CONFEDERATION. [1797. 

peace, but when they arrived, the -weak Directory was no more. The govern- 
ment was in the hands of Napoleon Bonaparte [Nov. 1790] as First Consul,' 
whose audacity and energy now saved France from anarchy and utter ruin. He 
promptly received the United States embassadors, concluded a treaty [Sept. 30, 
1800 j, and gave such assurances of friendly feelings that, on the return of the 
ministers, the provisional army of the United States, whose illustrious com- 
mander-in-chief had, in the mean while, been removed by death, was disbanded. 

Two unpopular domestic measures were adopted in the summer of 1798. 
known as the Alien and Sedition laws. The first authorized the President to 
expel from the country any alien (not a citizen) who should be suspected of 
conspiring against the Republic. An apology for the law was, that it was com- 
puted that there were more than thirty thousand Frenchmen in the United 
States, all of whom were devoted to their native country, and were mostly asso- 
ciated, by clubs or otherwise. Besides these, there were computed to be in the 
country at least fifty thousand persons who had been subjects of Great Britain, 
some of whom had found it unsafe to remain at home. The Sedition law author- 
ized the suppression of publications calculated to weaken the authority of the 
government. At that period there were two hundred newspapers published in the 
United States, of which about one hundred and seventy-five were in favor of the 
federal administration ; the remainder were chiefly under the control of aliens. 
These measures were unpopular, because they might lead to great abuses. In 
Virginia and Kentucky, the legislatures declared them to be decidedly uncon- 
stitutional, and they were finally repealed. 

The nation suffered a sad bereavement near the close of the last year of the 
century. Washington, the greatest and best-beloved of its military and civil 
leaders, died at Mount Vernon on the 14th of Decemljer, 1799, when almost 
sixty-eight years of age. No event since the foundation of the government, 
had made such an impression on the pu1)lic mind. The national grief was 
sincere, and party spirit was hushed into silence at his grave. All hearts 
united in homage to the memory of him who was properly regarded as the 
Father of his Country. Congress was then in session at Philadelphia, and 
when Judge Marshal? announced the sad event, both Houses^ immediately 
adjourned for the day. On re-assembling the next day, appropriate resolutions 
were passed, and the President was directed to write a letter of condolence to 
Mrs. Washington,* in the name of Congress. Impressive funeral ceremonies were 

' Bonaparte, Cambacere?, and the Abbe Sieyes became the ruhng power in France, with the 
title of Consul?, after the first had overthrown the DirectorJ^ Bonaparte was the First Consul, and 
was, in fact, an autocrat, or one who rales by his own will. " Papje 351. ' Note ?>, page .^G6. 

* Martha Dandridge, who first mariied Daniel Parke Castis, and afterward, while yet a }"0ung 
■widow, was wedded to Colonel Washington, was born in Kent county, Virginia, in 1732, about 
three months later than her illustrious husband. Her first husband died when she was about 
twenty-five years of age, leaving her with two children, and a large fortune in lands and money. 
She was married to Colonel Washington, in January, 1759. She was ever worthy of such a hus- 
band; and while he was President of the United States, she presided with dignity over the execu- 
tive mansion, l^oth in New York and Philadelphia. When her husband died, she said : " 'Tis well ; 
aU is now over; I shall soon follow him ; I have no more trials to pass through." In little less 
than thirty months afterward, she was laid in the family vault at Mount Vernon. Her grandson, 
and adopted son of Wasliington (also the last surviving executor of his will) is yet [December, 
1856] living on the banks of the Potomac, opposite Wasln'ngton City. 



1801.] 



ADAMS'S ADMINISTRATION. 



387 



observed by that body, and throughout the country.' General Henry Lee,' of 
Virginia, on the invitation of Congress, delivered [December 26. 1799J an 
eloquent funeral oration before the national legislature ; and the recommenda- 
tion of Congress, for the people of the United States to wear crape on their left 
arms for thirty days, was generally complied with. The Avholc nation put on 
tokens of mourning. 




Uy<^ /P^ 



The death of Washington also made a profound impression in Europe. To 
the people there, who were aspiring for freedom, it seemed as if a bright star 
had disappeared from the firmament of their hopes. Rulers, also, joined in 
demonstrations of respect. Soon after the event of his death was known in 
France, Bonaparte, then First Consul,^ rendered unusual honors to his name. 
On the 9th of February [1800], he issued the following order of the day to 
the army : " Washington is dead ! This great man fought against tyranny ; he 
established the liberties of his country. His memory will always be dear to 
the French people, as it will be to all free men of the two worlds ; and especially 
to French soldiers, who, like him and the American soldiers, have combatted 
for liberty and equality." Bonaparte also ordered, that during ten days black 
crape should be suspended from all the standards and flags throughout the 
French Republic. Splendid ceremonies in the Champs de Mars, and a 
funeral oration in the Hotel des Invalides. were also given, at both of which 



' Conpcress resolved to erect a mausoleum, or monument, at Washington City, to his memory, but 
the resolution has never been carried into effect. A magnificent one, composed of white marble, is 
now in course of erection there, to be paid for by individual subscriptions. 

» Note 2, page 333. ' Note 1, page 395. 



388 THE CONFEDERATION. [1801. 

the First Consul, and all the civil and military authorities of the capital were 
present. Lord Bridport, commander of a British fleet of almost sixty vessels, 
lying at Torbay, on the coast of France, when he heard of the death of Wash- 
ington, lowered his flag half-mast, and this example was followed by the Avhole 
fleet. And from that time until the present, the name of Washington has 
inspired increasing reverence at home and abroad, until now it may be said that 
the praise of him fills the whole earth. 

After the close of the difiiculties with France, very little of general interest 
occurred during the remainder of Mr. Adams's administration, except the 
removal of the seat of the Federal government to the District of Columbia,' in 
the summer of 1800 ; the admission into the Union [May, 1800] of the country 
between the western frontier of Georgia and the Mississippi River, as the Mis- 
sissippi Territory ; and the election of a new President of the United States. 
Now, again, came a severe struggle between the Federalists and Republic- 
ans, for political power.* The former nominated Mr. Adams and Charles 
Cotesworth Pinckney,^ for President; the latter nominated Thomas Jefferson 
and Aaron Burr,' for the same ofiice. In consequence of dissensions among the 
Federalist leaders, and the rapid development of ultra-democratic ideas among 
the people, the Republican party was successful. JejQferson and Burr had an 
equal number of electoral votes. The task of choosing, therefore, was trans- 
ferred to the House of Representatives, according to the provisions of the Fed- 
eral Constitution. The choice finally fell upon Mr. Jefierson, after thirty-five 
ballotings ; and Mr. Burr was proclaimed Vice-President. 

During the year 1800, the last of Adams's administration, the second enu- 
meration of the inhabitants of the United States took place. The population 
was then five millions, three hundred and nineteen thousand, seven hundred and 
sixty-two — an increase of one million, four hundred thousand in ten years. 
The Federal revenue, which amounted to four millions, seven hundred and 
seventy-one thousand dollars in 1790, was increased to almost thirteen millions 
in 1800. 



CHAPTER III. 

JEFFERSON'S ADMINISTRATION. [1801 — 1809]. 

Thomas Jefferson,^ the third President of the United States, was in the 
fifty-eighth year of his age when, on the 4th of March, 1801, he was duly 



' Page 371. The District is a tract ten miles square on each side of the Potomac, ceded to the 
TJnitod States by Maryland and Virginia in 1790. The city of Wasliington was laid out there in ] 791, 
:md tlie erection of tlie Capitol was commenced in 1793, when [April 18] President "Washington laid 
tlie corner stone of the north wing, with Masonic honors. The two wings were completed in 1808, 
and these were burned by the British in 1814. See page 436. The central portion of the Capitol 
was completed in 1827, the wings having been repaired soon after the conflagration. Altogether 
it covered an area of a little more than an acre and a half of ground. In course of time it became 
too small, and now [1856] an extension of it is in progress. Tlie addition is in the form of wings, 
north and south, projecting both east and west beyond the main building. 

^ Page 377. » Note 1, page 385. ^ Note 4, page 241, and page 397. 

' Thomas Jefferson was bom in Albemarle county, Virginia, in AprD, 1743. He was educated 



1809.] 



JEFFERSON'S ADMINISTRATION. 



389 



inaugurated the Chief Magistrate of the Republic, in the new Capitol, at Wash- 
ington City. His inaugural speech, which was looked for Avith great anxiety, 
as a foreshadowing of the policy of the new President, was manly and conserv- 
ative, and it allayed many apprehensions of his opponents. From its tone, they 




imagined that few of the Federal office-holders would be disturbed ; but in this 
they soon found themselves mistaken. Tlie Federal party, while in power, 
having generally excluded Republicans from office, Jeffi^rson felt himself justi- 
fied in giving places to his own political friends. He therefore made many 
removafs from official station throughout the country ; and then was commenced 
the second act in the system of political proscription,' which has not always 
proved wise or salutary. He retained, for a sliort time, Mr. Adams's Secretaries 
Qf the Treasury and Navy (Samuel Dexter and Benjamin Stoddart), but called 



at William and Mary College, studied law with the eminent George Wythe «ii<^. ^^f ^/f P^^"^*'^"' 
first inflamed by listening to Patrick Henry's famous speech fnote 1, pag;e 214J ag'^'"f^;''^^^^'t™P;,;,.y. 
He first appeared in public life in the Virginia Assembly, in 1769, and was one of ^^e "i«_^^ acn^ 
workers in that bodv, until sent to perform more important duties m the Lontincntai '^^^■ 
Tiie inscription upon" his monument, written by himself, tells of the most iniportant ot ins pun c 
labors: "Hero lies buried Thomas Jeffkusox, Author of the Declaration of Imjopendence: of tl.o 
Statute of Virginia f<ir rcliirious freedom; and Father of the University of \ irgima. "^ ^^as 
governor of his own State, and a foreign minister. He lived until the fi^'^th anmversar.- of the 
Declaration of Independence [Julr 4. 1826]. and at almost the same hour when the ^P'"^ f ^f ^^'^ 
took its flight [page 457], his also departed from the body, when he was at the .""^^J^^^f^^' 
three years. ° 



890 THE CONFEDERATION. [1801. 

Republicans to fill the other scats in his cabinet.' He set vigorously at work 
to reform public abuses, as far as was in his power ; and so conciliatory were 
his expressed views in reference to the great body of his opponents, that many 
Federalists joined the Republican ranks, and became bitter denouncers of their 
former associates and their principles. 

President Jefferson's administration was signalized at the beginning by the 
repeal of the Excise Act," and other obnoxious and unpopular laws. His sug- 
gestions concerning the reduction of the diplomatic corps, hauling up of the 
navy in ordinary, the abolition of certain offices, and the revision of the 
judiciary, Avere all taken into consideration by Congress, and many advances 
in jurisprudence were made. Vigor and enlightened views marked his course ; 
and even his political opponents confessed his forecast and wisdom, in many 
things. During his first term, one State and two Territories were added to the 
confederacy. A part of the North-western Territory^ became a State, under 
the name of Ohio,'' in the autumn of 1802 ; and in the spring of 1803, Louisi- 
ana was purchased [April] of France for fifteen millions of dollars. This 
result Avas ])rought about without much difiiculty, for the French ruler was 
desirous of injuring England, and saw in this an excellent way to do it. In 
violation of a treaty made in the year 1795, the Spanish governor of Louisiana 
closed the port of New Orleans in 1802. Great excitement prevailed through- 
out the western settlements ; and a proposition was made in Congress to take 
forcible possession of the Territory. It Avas ascertained that, by a secret treaty, 
the country had been ceded to France, by Spain. Negotiations for its purchase 
Avere immediately opened with Napoleon, and the bargain Avas consummated in 
April, 1803. The United States took peaceable possession in the autumn of 
that year. It contained about eighty-five thousand mixed inhabitants, and 
about forty thousand negro slaves. When this bargain was consummated, 
Napoleon said, prophetically, "This accession of territory strengthens forever 
the poAver of the United States ; and I have just given to England a maritime 
rival that will sooner or later humble her pride." Out of it two Territories 
were formed, called respectively the Territory of New Orleans and the Dis- 
trict of Louisiana. 

We haA^e already adverted to the depredations of Algerine corsairs upon 
American commerce. The insolence of the piratical powers on the southern 
shores of the Mediterranean," at length became unendurable; and the United 
States government resolved to cease paying tribute to them. The Bashaw of 
Tripoli thereupon declared war [June 10, 1801] against the United States ; 
and Captain Bainbridge was ordered to cruise in the Mediterranean to protect 

' James Madison, Secretary of State ; Henry Dearborn, Secretary of War ; Levi Lincoln, Attor- 
ney General. Before the meeting of Congress in December, ho appointed Albert Gallatin [note 1, 
liage 380, and note 6, page 443], Secretary of the Treasury, and Robert Smith, Secretary of the Navy. 
Tliey were both Republicans. '^ Pago 378. ^ Page 362. 

* No section of the Union had increased, in population and resources, so rapidly as Ohio. T\'hen, 
in 1800, it was formed into a distinct Territory, the residue of the North-ivestern Territory remained 
as one until 1809. Then the Territories of Indiana and Illinois were formed. When Oliio was 
.admitted as a State, it contained a population of about seventy-two thousand souls. 

' Morocco, Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli, in Africa. They are known as the Barbarij Powers. 



1809.] 



JEFFERSON'S ADMINISTRATION. 



391 



American commerce.' In 1803, Commodore Preble was sent thither to humble 
the pirates. After bringing the Emperor of Morocco to terms, he appeared 
before Tripoli with his squadron. One of his vessels (the Philadelphia), com- 
manded by Bainbridge,' struck on a rock in the harbor, while reconnoitering : 




and before she could be extricated, she was captured [October 31, 1803] by 
the Tripolitans. The officers were treated as prisoners of war, but the crew 
were mide slaves. 



' Captain Bainbridge had been on that coast the previous year. 
He arrived at Algiers in September, 1800, in tlie frigate George Washing- 
ton, with the annual tribute money [page 381]. The dey, or governor, 
demanded the use of his vessel to carry an ambassador to Constan- 
tinople. Bainbridgj remonstrated, when the dey haughtily observed: 
" You p:iy mo tribute, by which you become my slaves, and therefore 
I have a right to order you tis I think proper." Bainbridge was 
obliged to comply, for the castle guns would not allow him to pass out 
of the harbor. He sailed for the East, and had the honor of first dis- 
playing tli3 American flag before the ancient cit_v of Constantinople. 
The .Sultan regarded it as a f ivorable omen of future friendship, because 
/iwAaGT bore a cescenf, or half-moon, and the American a ffroup of stars. 

' William Bainbridsjc was born in New Jersev. in 1774. He was captain of a merchant vessel 
at the age of nineteen years, and entered the naval service in 1793. He was distinguished during 
the second War for Independence [page 109], and died in 1833. 




±zi 



t^^^TED states fkicjate. 



392 



THE CONFEDERATION. 



[1801. 




LIECTEXANT DECATUR. 



The credit of the American navy was somewhat repaired, early in the 
^, following year, when Lieutenant Decatur, ' with only sev- 

enty-six volunteers, sailed into the harbor of Tripoli, in 
the evening of February 3, 1804, and runing alongside 
the Philadelphia (wdiich lay moored near the castle, and 
guarded by a large number of Tripolitans), boarded her. 
killed or drove into the sea all of her turbaned defenders. 
set her on fire, and under cover of a heavy cannonade 
from the American squadron, escaped, without losino- a 
man.' As they left the burrnng vessel, the Americans 
raised a shout, which was ansAvered by the guns of the 
batteries on the shore, and ])y the armed vessels at anchor 
near. They went out into the Mediterranean unharmed, sailed for Syracuse, 
and were received there with great joy by the American squadron, under Com- 
modore Preble. This bold act humbled and alarmed the bashaw :^ yet his 
capital withstood a heavy bombardment, and his gun-boats gallantly sustained a 
severe action [August 3] with the American vessels. 

In the following year, through the aid of Hamet Caramelli, brother of Jes- 
suff. the reigning bashaw (or governor) of Tripoli, favorable terms of |)cace 
were secured. The bashaw was a usurper, and Hamet, the rightful heir to the 
throne,^ was an exile in Egypt. He readily concerted, with 
Captain William Eaton, American consul at Tunis, a plan 
for humbling the bashaw, and obtaining his own restoration to 
rightful authority. Captain Eaton acted under the sanction of 
his government ; and early in March [March 6, 1805], he left 
Alexandria, wdth seventy United States seamen, accompanied 
by Hamet and his followers, and a few Egyptian troops. They 
made a journey of a thousand miles across the Libyan desert, 
and on the 27th of April, captured Derne, a Tripolitan 
city on the Mediterranean. Three weeks later [May 18], they 
had a successful battle Avith Tripolitan troops ; and on the 18th 
of June they again defeated the forces of the bashaw, and 




MOHAMMED AX 
SOLDIER. 



' Stephen Pccatur was born in Maryland in 1779. He entered the navy at the age of nineteen 
year.-. After his last cruise in the Mediterranean, he superintended the building of the gun-lioats. 
He rose to the rank of commodore ; and during the second War for Independence [page 409j, he 
was distingui,shed for his skill and bravery. He afterward humbled the Earbary Powers [note 5, 
p.age 390] ; and was esteemed as one among the choicest tlowers of the navy. He was killed, at 
Bladensburg, in a duel with Commodore Barron, in March, 1820, when forty-one years of age. 

" While the American squadron was on its way to Syracuse, it captured a small Tripolitan ves- 
sel, bound to Constantinople, with a present of female slaves for the Sultan. This was taken into 
service, and named the Intrejnd, and was the vessel with which Decatur performed his bold exploit 
I't Tripoli. Tliis act greatly enraged the Tripolitans, and the American prisoners were treated with 
the utmost severity. The annals of that day give some terrible pictures of white slavery on the 
soutliern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. 

° Bashaw, or Pacha [Pas-shaw], is the title of the governor of a province, or town, in the do- 
minions of the Sultan (or emperor) of Turkey. The Barbary States [note 5, page ;>90] are all under 
the Sultan's rule. 

^ The bashaw, who was a third son, had murdered his fother and elder brother, and comj)elled 
Hamet to fly for his life. With quite a large number of followers, he fled into Pjgypt. 




Decatur Bcrnixg the Philadelphia. 



1809.] 



JEFFERSON'S ADMINISTRATION 



395 



pressed forward toward Tripoli. The terrified ruler had made terms of peace 
[June 3, 1805J with Colonel Tobias Lear, American consul-general' in the 
Mediterranean, and thus disappointed the laudable ambition of Eaton, and the 
hopes of Hamet." 

While these hostile movements were occurring in the East, the President 




had, in a confidential message to Congress, in January, 1803, proposed the first 
of those peaceable conquests which have opened, and are still opening, to civil- 
ization and human industry, the vast inland regions of our continent. He rec- 
ommended an appropriation for defraying the expenses of an exploring expedi- 
tion across the continent from the Mississippi to the Pacific Ocean. The 
appropriation was made, apd presently an expedition, consisting of thirty indi- 
viduals, under Captains Lewis and Clarke, was organized. They left the banks 
of the Mississippi on the 14th of May, 1804, and were absent about twenty-seven 
months. It Avas very successful, particularly in geographical discoveries, and 

' A consul is an oEBcer appointed by a government to reside in a foreign port, to have a general 
supervision of the commercial interests of his country there. In some cases they have powers almost 
equal to a minister. Such is tlie case with consuls within the ports of Mohammedan countries. The 
word consul was applied to Napoleon [pajjre 387] in the ancient Roman sense. It was the title of 
the chief niajristrate of Rome during the Republic. The treaty made hy Lear provided for an ex- 
change of prisoner;?, man for man, as far as they would go. Jessuff had about two hundred more 
prisoners tlian the Americans held, and for these, a ransom of .$00,000 was to be paid. It was also 
stipulated that the wife and cliildren of Hamet should be given up to him. 

'■' Hamet afterward came to the United States, and applied to Congress for a remuneration for 
his services in favor of the Americans. He was unsuccessful; but Congress voted $2,400 for his 
temporary relief. 



396 THE CONFEDERATION. [1801. 

furnished the first reliable information respecting the extensive country between 
the Mississippi and the Pacific Ocean. During the same jear, the election for 
President of the United States recurred. Aaron Burr, having lost the confi- 
dence of the Democratic party/ was not re-nominated for Vice-President. 
George Clinton^ was put in his place ; and JeiFerso'n and Clinton were elected 
by a great majority^ over their Federal opponents, Charles Cotesworth Pinck- 
ney,' of South Carolina, who was nominated for President, and Rufus King," 
of New York, for Vice-President. 

A serious difficulty commenced in the West during the second year [1805] 
of Mr. Jefferson's second administration. The fertile valleys of the Ohio and 
Mississippi were then very rapidly filling with adventurers, and the materials 
for new States, strong and ample, were gathering. Michigan was erected into 
a Territory in 1805 ; and all along the Mississippi, extensive settlements were 
taking root and flourishing. The tide of population Avas full and unceasing, and 
was composed, chiefly, of adventurous characters, ready for any enterprise that 
should offer the result of great gain. Taking advantage of the restless spirit 
of these adventurers, and the general impression that the Spanish population of 
Louisiana would not quietly submit to the jurisdiction of the United States,^ 
Aaron Burr^ thought to make them subservient to his own ambitious purposes. 
His murder of Hamilton in a dueV on the 12th of July, 1804, made him 
everywhere detested ; and, perceiving his unpopularity in the fact of his having 
been superseded in the office of Vice-President of the United States, by George 
Clinton,^ he sought a new field for achieving personal aggrandisement. In 
April, 1805, he xleparted for the West, with several nominal objects in view, 
but chiefly in relation to pecuniary speculations. These seemed to conceal his 
real design of effecting a strong military organization, for the purpose of invad- 
ing the Spanish possessions in Mexico. General Wilkinson,'" then in the West, 
and the commander-in-chief of the Federal army, became his associate. Wil- 

» Page 377. « Page 350. 

' The great popularity of .Jefferson's administration was shown hy the result of this election. He 
received in the electoral college [note 1, page 361] one hundred and sixtj'-two votes, and Mr. 
Pinckney only fourteen. * Page 384. 

* Rufus King was bom in 1755, and was in Harvard College in 1775, when hostilities with 
Great Britain commenced, and the students were dispersed. He chose the law for a profession, and 
became very eminent as a practitioner. He was in Sullivan's army, on Rhode Island [page 289"|, 
in 1778 ; and in 1784, the people, appreciating his talents and his oratorical powers, elected him to a 
seat in the Legislature of Massachusetts. He was an efficient member of the Federal Convention, 
in 1787, and nobly advocated the Constitution afterward. He removed to New York, was a mem- 
ber of the State Legislature, was also one of the first United States Senators from New York, and 
in 179G was appointed minister to Great Britain. From 1813 lo 1826 he was a member of the 
United States Senate, and in 1825 was again sent to England as minister plenipotentiary. He 
died, near Jamaica, Long Island, in April, 1827, at the age of seventy-two years. ® Page 390. 

' Aaron Burr was bom in New Jersey, in 1756. In his twentieth year he joined the conti- 
nental army, and accompanied Arnold [note 4, page 241] in his expedition against Quebec, in 1775. 
His health compelled him to leave the army in 1779. and he became a distinguished lawyer and 
active public man. He died on Staten Island, near New York, in 1836, at the age of eighty years. 

^ Note 2, page 360. A political quarrel led to fatal results. Burr had been informed of some 
remarks made bj^ Hamilton, in puVJic, derogatory to his character, and he demanded a retraction. 
Hamilton considered his demand unreasonable, and refused compliance. Burr challenged him to 
fight, and Hamilton reluctanth^ met him on the west side of the Hudson, near Hoboken, where they 
fought with pistols. Hamilton discharged his weapon in the air, but Burr took fatal aim, and his 
antagonist fell. Hamilton died the next day. ^ Page 350. "Page 410. 



1809.] 



JEFFERSON'S ADMINISTR A TIOX. 



597 



kinson had just been appointed governor of Louisiana, and his official position 
secured precisely the advantage which Burr sought. 

Burr went down the Ohio ; and one beautiful morning at the close of April 
[1805 J, he appeared at the house of Blennarhasset, an Irishman possessed of 




fine education, a large fortune, and an accomplished and enthusiastic wife.' To 
him he unfolded his grand military scheme ; and the imaginations of Blennar- 
hasset and his wife were fired. Dreams of immense wealth and power filled 
their minds ; and when Burr had departed from the quiet home of this 
gentleman, the sunshine of his house faded. Blennarhasset was a changed man. 
He placed his wealth and reputation in the keeping of an unprincipled dema- 
gogue, and lost both. At that time, the brave and noble Andrew Jackson" Avas 
in command of the militia of Tennessee. In jMay, Burr appeared at the door 
of that stern patriot, and before he left it, he had won Jackson's confidence, and 
his promise of co-operation. He also met Wilkinson at St. Louis, and there 
gave him some hints of a greater scheme than he had hitherto unfolded, which, 
that officer alleged, made him suspicious that Burr's ultimate aim was damage 



* His residence was upon an island a little below the mouth of the Muskingum River. There 
he had a fine library, beautiful conservatories, and a variety of luxuries hitherto unseen in that 
wilderness region. His home was an earthly paradise, into which the vile political serpent crawled, 
and despoiled it with his slime. Blennarhasset became poor, and died in 1831. His beautiful and 
accoinpUshed wife was buried by the Sisters of Charity, in the city of New York, in the year 1842. 

' rage 460. 



398 



THE CONFEDERATION. 



[1801 



to the Union. However, the schemer managed the whole matter with great 
skill. He made friends with many of the dissatisfied military and naval officers, 
and won their sympathies;' and in the summer of 1806, he was very active in 
the organization of a military expedition in the West. The secresy with 




which it was carried on, excited the suspicions of many good men beyond the 
mountains, among whom was Jackson. Burr was suspected of a design to dis- 
member the Union, and to establish an independent empire west of the Alleg- 
hanies, with himself at the head. Those suspicions were communicated to the 
Federal Government, which, having reason to suspect Burr of premeditated 
treason, put forth the strong arm of its power, and crushed the viper in its egg. 
Burr was arrested [February, 1807], near Fort Stoddart, on the Tombigbee 
River, in the present State of Alabama, by Lieutenant (afterward Major-Gen- 
eral) Gaines,^ taken to Richmond, in Virginia, and there tried on a charge of 
treason. He was acquitted. The testimony showed that his probable design 
was an invasion of Mexican provinces, for the purpose of establishing there an 
independent government. 

While Burr's scheme was ripening, difficulties with Spain were increasing, 
and the United States were brought to the verge of a war with that country. 



* Many in the "West supposed the government was .secretly favoring Burr's plans against Mex- 
ico, and, having no suspicions of any other designs, some of tlie truest men of that region became, 
some more and some less, involved in the meshes of his scheme. * Pago 467. 



1809.] JEFFERSON'S ADMINISTRATION. 399 

At the same time, the continued impressment of American seamen into the 
English navj, and the interruptions to American commerce by the British gov- 
ernment, irritated the people of the United States, and caused the President to 
recommend partial non-intercourse with Great Britain. This policy was 
adopted by Congress [April 15, 1806], the prohibition to take effect in Novem- 
ber following. This was one of the first of the retaliatory measures of the 
American government toward that of Great Britain. 

The following year [1807] is remarkable in American histoi-y as the era 
of the commencement of successful steamboat navigation. Experiments in that 
direction had been made in this country many years before, but it was 
reserved for Robert Fulton' to bear the honor of success. He spent a 
long time in France, partly in the pursuit of his profession as a portrait-painter, 
and in the study of the subject of steam navigation. Through the kindness of 
Joel Barlow, then [1797] in Paris (in whose fomily he remained seven years), 
he was enabled to study the natural sciences, modern languages, and to make 
experiments. There he became acquainted with Robert R. Livingston,^ and 
through his influence and pecuniary aid, on his return 
to America, he was enabled to construct a steamboat, 
and to make a voyage on the Hudson from New York 
to Albany, ''against wind and tide," in thirty-six 
hours." He took out his first patent in 1809. Within 
fifty years, the vast operations connected with steam- 
boat navigation, have been brought into existence. 
Now the puff of the steam-engine is heard upon the ^^^^"^^ ' s.i v.mboat. 
waters of every civilized nation on the face of the globe. 

And now the progress of events in Europe began to disturb the amicable 
relations which had subsisted between the governments of the United States and 
Great Britain since the ratification of Jay's treaty.^ Napoleon Bonaparte was 
upon the throne of France as emperor ; and in 1806 he was King of Italy, and 
his three brothers were made ruling monarchs. He was upon the full tide of 
his success and conquests, and a large part of continental Europe was now 

* Robert Falton was born in Pennsylvania, in 1*765, and was a student of 'West, tlio great 
painter, for several years. He had more genius for mechanics than the fine arts, and when he 
turned his efforts in that chrection, he became very successful. He died in 1815, soon ailer launch- 
ing a steamship of war, at the age of fifty years. At that time there were six steamboats afloat on 
the Hudson, and he was building a steamship, designed for a voyage to St. Petersburg, in Russia. 

^ Page 366. 

' This was the Clermont, Fulton's experimental boat. It was one hundred feet in length, twelve 
feet in width, and seven in doptli. The engine was constructed by "Watt and Bolton, in England, 
and the hull was made by David Brown, of New York. The following advertisement appeared m 
the Albany Gazette, September 1st, 1807 : "The North River Steamboat \\\\\ leave Paulus's Hook 
[Jersey City] on Friday, the 4th of September, at 9 in the morning, and arrive at Albany on Satvxr- 
day, at 9 in the afternoon. Provisions, good berths, and accommodations are provided. The 
charge to each passenger is as follows : 

" To Newburg, dollars, 
" Poughkeepsie, " 
" Esopus, " 

" Hudson, " 

" Albany, 

* Page 380. 




3, 


time. 


14 


hours. 


4, 


" 


17 


11 


5, 


" 


20 


" 


5i, 


" 


30 


K 


7, 


" 


36 


tl 



400 



THE CONFEDERATION. 



[1801. 



prostrate at bis feet. Although England had joined the continental powers 
against him [1803 j, in order to crush the Democratic revolution commenced in 
France, and the English navy had almost destroyed the French power at sea, 
all Europe was yet trembling in his presence. But the United States, by 




l^^A^^ 



maintaining a strict neutrality, neither coveted his favors nor feared his power ; 
at the same time American shipping being allowed free intercourse between 
English and French ports, enjoyed the vast advantages of a profitable carrying 
trade between them. 

The belligerents, in their anxiety to damage each other, ceased, in time, to 
respect the laws of nations toward neutrals, and adopted measures at once 
destructive to American commerce, and in violation of the most sacred rights 
of the United States. In this matter. Great Britain took the lead. By ar 
order in council,' that government declared [jNIay 16, 1806] the whole coast of 
Europe, from the Elbe, in Germany, to Brest, in France, to be in a state of 
blockade. * Napoleon retaliated by issuing [November 21] a decree at Berlin, 
which declared all the ports of the British islands to be in a state of blockade. 
This was intended as a blow against England's maritime superiority, and it was 

' The British privy council consists of an indefinite number of gentlemen, chosen by the sover- 
eign, and having no direct connection with the cabinet ministers. The sovereign may, under the 
advice of this council, issue orders or proclamations which, if not contrary to existing laws, are 
binding upoii the subjects. These are for temporary purposes, and are called Orders in Council. 




1809.] JEFFERSON'S ADMINISTRATION. ^Q^ 

the beginning of what he termed the coiit'uicntal system^ the chief object of 
which was the ruin of Great Britain. The latter, by another order [January 
7, 1807J, prohibited all coast trade with France; and 
thus the gamesters played with the world's peace and 
prosperity. In spite of pacific attempts to put an 
end to these ungenerous measures, American vessels 
were seized by both English and French cruisers, and 
American commerce dwindled to a domestic coast trade.* 
The United States lacked a navy to protect her commerce 
on the ocean, and the swarms of gun-boats" which Con- 
gress, from time to time, had authorized as a substitute, ^ felucca gun-boat. 
were quite inefficient, even as a coast-guard. 

The American merchants and all in their interest, so deeply injured by the 
*' orders" and "decrees" of the warring monarchs, demanded redress of griev- 
ances. Great excitement prevailed throughout the country, and the most bitter 
feeling was beginning to be felt against Great Britain. This was increased by 
her haughty assertion and offensive practice of the doctrine that she had the 
right to search American vessels for suspected deserters from the British navy, 
and to carry away the suspected without hinderance.^ This right was strenu- 
ously denied, and its policy vehemently condemned, because American seamen 
might be thus forced into the British service, under the pretense that they were 
deserters. Indeed this had already happened.^ 

Clouds of difficulty now g ithered thick and black. A crisis approached. 
Four seamen on board the United States frigate Chesapeake^ were claimed as 
deserters from the British armed ship Melampus.^ They were demanded, but 
Commodore Barron, of the Chesapeake, refused to give them up. The 

' In May, 1806, James Monroe [page 447] and "William Pinkney, were appointed to assist in 
the negotiation of a treaty with Great Britain, concerning the rights of neutrals, the imprisonment 
of seamen, right of search, &c. A treaty was finally signed, but as it did not offer security to 
American vessels against the aggressions of Britisli ships in searching them and carrying off seamen, 
Mr. Jefferson refused to submit it to the Senate, and rejected it. The Federalists condemned the 
course of the President, but subsequent events proved his wisdom. Mr. Pinkney, one of the special 
envoys, was a remarkable man. He was bom at Annapolis, Maryland, in March, 1764. He was 
admitted to the bar, at the age of twenty-two years, and became one of the most profound states- 
men and brilliant orators of the age. He was a member of the Maryland Senate, in 1811, when 
President Madison appointed him Attorney-General for the United States. He was elected a 
member of Congress, and in 1816 was appointed United States minister to St. Petersburg. After 
a short service in the Senate, his health gave way, and he died in February, 1822, in the fifty-ninth 
year of his age. 

* These were small sailing vessels, having a cannon at the bow and stern, and manned by fully 
armed men, for the purpose of boarding other vessels. 

^ England maintains the doctrine that a British subject can never become an alien. At the 
time in question, she held that she had the right to take her native-born subjects wherever found, and 
place them in the army or navy, even though, by legal process, they had become citizens of another 
nation. Our laws give equal protection to the native and adopted citizen, and would not allow 
Great Britain to exercise her asserted privilege toward a Briton who had become a citizen of the 
United States. 

* During nine months, in the years 179j5 and 1797, Mr. King [page 395], the American minis- 
ter in London, had made application for the release of two hundred and seventy-one seamen (a 
greater portion of whom were Americans), who had been seized on the false charge of being desert- 
ers, and pressed into the British service. 

* A small British squadron, of which the Melampus was one, was lying in Lynn Haven Bay, at 
the mouth of the Ohesapeako Bay, at this time. It was commanded by Admiral Berkeley. 

. 26 



402 THE CONFEDERATION. [1801. 

Chesapeake left the capes of Virginia on a cruise, on the 22d of June, 1807, 
and on the same day she was chased and attacked by the British frigate 
Leopard. Unsuspicious of danger and unprepared for an attack, Barron sur- 
rendei;ed his vessel, after losing three men killed and eighteen wounded. The 
four men were then taken on board the Leopard., and the Chesapeake 
returned to Hampton Roads.' Investigation proved that three of the seamen, 
who were colored men, were native Americans, and that the fourth had been 
impressed into the British service, and had deserted. 

Forbearance was no longer a virtue. The outrage upon the Chesapeake 
aroused the nation, and provoked retaliatory measures. All parties joined in 
one loud voice of indignation, and many were very anxious for a declaration of 
war with England. The President, however, proposed a pacific course, as long 
as any hope for justice or reconciliation remained. He issued a proclamation, 
in July [1807], ordering all British armed vessels to leave the waters of the 
United States immediately, and forbidding any one to enter until full satisfac- 
tion for the present insult, and security against future aggressions, should be 
made. Although the British government understood the attack on the Chesa- 
peake as an outrage, yet diplomacy, which is seldom honest, was immediately 
employed to mistify the plain question of law and right." In the mean while, 
France and England continued to play their desperate game, to the detriment 
of commerce, unmindful of the interests of other nations, or the obligations 
of international law. A British order in counciP was issued on the 11th 
of November, 1807, forbidding neutral nations to trade with France or her 
allies, except upon payment of tribute to Great Britain. Napoleon retaliated, 
by issuing, on the 17th of December, a decree at Milan, forbidding all trade 
with England or her colonies ; and authorizing the confiscation of any vessel 
found in his ports, which had submitted to English search, or paid the exacted 
tribute. In other words, any vessel having goods upon which any impost 
whatever should have been paid to Great Britain, should be denationalized, 
and subject to seizure and condemnation. These edicts were, of course, destruct- 
ive to the principal part of the foreign commerce of the United States. In 
this critical state of aifairs, the President convened Congress several weeks 
[Oct. 25, 1807] earlier than usual ; and in a confidential message [December 
18], he recommended to that body the passage of an act, levying a commercial 
embargo. Such an act was passed [December 22], which provided for the de- 
tention of all vessels, American and foreign, at our ports ; and ordered Ameri- 
can vessels abroad to return home immediately, that the seamen might be 

> Page 297. 

" The President forwarded instructions to Mr. Monroe, our minister to England, to demand im- 
mediate satisfaction for the outrage, and security against similar events in future. Great Britain 
tliereupon dispatched an envoy extraordinary (Mr. Rose) to the United States, to settle the diffi- 
culty in question. The envoy would not enter into negotiations until the President should with- 
draw his proclamation, and so the matter stood until ifovemher, 1811 (more than four years), wlien 
the British government declared the attack on the Chesapeake to have been unauthorized, and pro- 
mised pecuniary aid to the families of those who were killed at that time. But Britain would not 
relinquish the right of search, and so a cause for quarrel remainecL 

* Note 1, page 400. 



1809.] 



JEFFERSON'S ADMINISTRATION. 



403 



trained for the inevitable Avar. Thus the chief commerce of the world was 
brought to a full stop. 

The operation of the embargo law was the occasion of great distress, especi- 
ally in commercial communities, yet it was sustained by the great body of the 




American people. It put patriotism and firmness to a severe test. It bore 
extremely hard upon seamen and their employers, for it spread ruin throughout 
the shipping interest. It was denounced by the Federal party, chiefly for polit- 
ical effect;' and as it failed to obtain from England and France any acknowl- 
edgment of American rights, it was repealed on the 1st of March, 1809, three 
days before Mr. Jefferson retired from office. Congress, at the same time, 
passed [March 1, 1809] a law which forbade all commercial intercourse with 
France and England, until the "orders in council" and the '"decrees" should 
be repealed. 

* Mr. .Teficrson trulj^ wrote to a friend : " The Federalists are now playing a game of the most 
miscliievous tendency, without, perhaps, being themselves aware of it. They are endeavoring 
to convince England that we suffer more from the embargo than they do, and that, if they will 
hold out awhile, we must abandon it. It is true, the time'will come when we must abandon it ; 
but if tliis is before the repeal of the orders in council, we must abandon it only for a state of war." 
John Quincy Adams, wlio had resigned liis seat in the Senate of the United States, because he dif- 
fered from the majority of his constituents in supporting the measures c)f the administration, wrote 
to the President to the effect, that from information received by him. it was the determination of 
the ruling party (Federalists) in Massachusetts, and even throughout New England, if the embargo 
was persisted in, no longer to submit to it, but to separate themselves from the Union ; and that such 
was the pressure of the embargo upon the community, that they would bo supported by the peopla 
This was explicitly denied, in after years, by the Federalist loaders. 



404 THE CONFEDERATION". [1809, 

In the midst of the excitement on account of the foreign relations of the 
United States, another Presidential election was held. Who should be the Dem- 
ocratic candidate ? was a question of some difficulty, the choice lying between 
Messrs. Madison and Monroe, of Virginia. For some time, a portion of the Dem- 
ocratic party in that State, under the leadership of the eminent John Randolph,' 
of Roanoke, had diflfered from the Administration on some points of its foreign 
policy; yet, while they acted with the Federalists on many occasions, they 
studiously avoided identification with that party. Mr. Madison was the firm 
adherent of Jefferson, and an advocate and apologist of his measures, while Mr. 
Monroe' rather favored the views of Mr. Randolph and his friends. The strength 
of the two candidates was tried in a caucus of the Democratic members of the 
"Virginia Legislature, and also in a caucus of the Democratic members of Con- 
gress. Mr. Madison, having a large majority on both occasions, was nominated 
for the office of President, and George Clinton for that of Vice-President. 
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney and Rufus King were the Federalist candidates. 
Madison and Clinton were elected. At the close of eight years' service, as 
Chief Magistrate of the United States, Mr. Jefferson left office [March 4, 1809], 
and retired to his beautiful Mo?iticelIo, in the bosom of his native Virginia. 



CHAPTER IV. 

MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION. [18 9 — 1817.] 

When James Madison, the fourth President of the Republic, took the 
chair of state, the country was overspread with gloom and despondency. 
Although somewhat highly colored, the report of a committee of the Massachu- 
setts Legislature, in January, 1809, gives, doubtless, a fair picture of the con- 
dition of affiiirs. It said: "Our agriculture is discouraged; the fisheries 
abandoned; navigation forbidden; our commerce at home restrained, if not 

' John Randolph -was seventh in descent from Pocahontas [pap:e G6], the beloved daughter of 
the emperor of the Powhatans. He v^^as born at Petersburg, in Virginia, in June, 1773. He was 
in delicate health from infancy. He studied in Columbia College, New^ York, and William and 
Mary College, in Virginia. Law was his chosen profession ; yet he was too fond of literature and 
politics to be confined to its practice. Ho entered public life in 1799, when he was elected to a 
seat in Congress, where he was a representative of his native State, in the lower House, for thirty 
years, with the exception of tliree intervals of two years each. During that time he was a member 
of tho Senate for two years. He opposed the war iu 1812. His political course was erratic. 
Jackson appointed him minister to St. Petersburg in 1830. His health would not permit him to 
remain there. On his return lie was elected to Congress, but consumption soon laid him in tho 
grave. He died at Philadelphia, in May, ] 833. Mr. Randolph was a strange compound of moral 
and intellectual qualities. He was at times almost an atheist ; at others, he was imbued with tho 
deepest emotions of piety and reverence for Deity. It is said that, on one occasion, he ascended a 
lofly spur of the Blue Ridge, at dawn, and from that magnificent observatory saw the sun rise. As 
its light burst in beauty and glory over the vast panorama before him, he turned to his servant and 
said,'with deep emotion, "Tom, if any body says there is no God, tell them they lie!" Thus ho 
expressed the deep sense which his soul felt of the presence of a Great Creator. 

' Page. 447. 



1817.] MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION. 4Q5 

annihilated ; our commerce abroad cut off; our navy sold, dismantled, or 
degraded to the service of cutters, or gun-boats;' the revenue extinguished; 
the course of justice interrupted; and the nation weakened by internal animos- 
ities and divisions, at the moment when it is unnecessarily and improvidently 
exposed to war with Great Britain, France, and Spain." This was the lan- 
guage of the opponents of the administration, and must be taken with some 
allowance. That party was strongly opposed to Mr. Madison, because they 




^^ft^Ct^^^ ^^.^^/^^ 



believed that he would perpetuate the policy of Mr. Jefferson. But when, 
dressed in a suit of plain black, he modestly pronounced his inaugural address 
[March 4, 1809], the tone and sentiment of Avhich fell like oil upon the 
troubled waters, those of his most implacable political enemies who heard him, 
could not refrain from uttering words of approbation ; and hopes were enter- 
tained by the whole nation, that his measures might change the gloomy aspect 
of affairs. 

To all unbiassed minds, no man appeared better fitted for the office of Chief 
Magistrate of the Republic, at that time of general commotion, than Mr. Mad- 
ison.' He had been Secretary of State during the Avhole administration of Mr. 



' Pago 401. 

* James Madison was born in Virginia, in March, 1751. lie was educated at Princeton, New 
.Jersey, and was diverted from the intended practice of the law by the charms and excitements of 
political life. He assisted in framing the first Constitution of Virginia, in 177G. He was aTncm- 
ber of his State Legislature and of the Executive Council, and in 1780 was a delegate in the Conti- 
nental Congress. In public life, there, and in his State councils, ho was ever the champion of 
popular liberty. As a member of the Federal Convention, and supporter of the Constitution, ho 



406 THE CONFEDERATION. [1809. 

Jefferson, and was familiar with every event which had contributed to produce 
the existing; hostile relations between the United States and Great Britain. 
His cabinet was composed of able men,' and in the eleventh Congress, which 
convened on the 22d of May, 1809, in consequence of the critical state of 
affairs,' there was a majority of his pohtical friends. Yet there was a powerful 
party in the country (the Federalists) hostile to his political creed, and opposed 
to a war with England, Avhich now seemed probable. 

At the very beginning of Madison's administration, light beamed upon the 
future. Mr. Erskine, the British minister, assured the President, that such 
portions of the orders in couUcir as affected the United States, should be 
repealed by the 10th of June. He also assured him that a special envoy would 
soon arrive, to settle all matters in dispute between the two governments. 
Supposing the minister to be authorized by his government to make ■ these 
assurances, the President, as empowered by Congress, issued a proclamation 
[April 19, 1809], permitting a renewal of commercial intercourse with Great 
Britain, on that day. But the government disavowed Erskine' s act, and the 
President again [August 10] proclaimed non-intercourse. The light had 
proved deceitful. This event caused great excitement in the public mind ; and 
had the President then declared war against Great Britain, it would doubtless 
have been very popular. 

Causes for irritation between the two governments continually increased, 
and, for a time, political intercourse Avas suspended. France, too, continued 
its aggressions. On the 23d of March, 1810, Bonaparte issued a decree at 
Rambouillet, more destructive in its operations to American commerce, than any 
measures hitherto employed. It declared forfeit every American vessel which 
had entered French ports since March, 1810, or that might thereafter enter ; 
and authorized the sale of the same, together with the cargoes — the money to 
be placed in the French treasury. Under this decree, many American vessels 
were lost, for which only partial remuneration has since been obtained.^ Bona- 
parte justified this decree by the plea, that it was made in retaliation for the 
American decree of non-intercourse." Three months later [May, 1810], Con- 
gress offered to resume commercial intercourse with either France or England, 
or both, on condition that they should repeal their obnoxious orders and 
decrees, before the 3d of March, 1811." The French emperor, who was always 
governed by expediency, in defiance of right and justice, feigned compliance, 
and by giving assurance [August] that such repeal should take effect in Novem- 



was one of the wisest and ablest; and his voluminous writings, purchased by Conjxress, display tho 
most sagacious statesmanship. As a Republican, he was conservative. For eight years he was 
President of the United States, when he retired to private life. He died in June. 1836, at the age 
of eighty-five years. 

' Robert Smith, Secretary of State; Albert Gallatin, Secretary of the Treasury; William Eustis, 
Secretary of War ; Paul Hamilton, Secretary of the Navy ; Caesar Rodney, Attorney-General. 

^ Its session lasted onlv about five weeks, because peace seemed probable. 

= Note 1, page 400. " " Page 468. ^ Page 402. 

' The act provided, that if either government should repeal its obnoxious acts, and if the other 
government should not do the same within three montlis thereafter, then tho first should enjoy 
commercial intercourse with the United States, but the other shoula not. 



1817.] MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION". 40Y 

ber, caused the President to proclaim such resumption of intercourse. It was 
a promise intended to be broken at any moment when policy should dictate. 
American vessels continued to be seized by French cruisers, as usual, and con- 
fiscated ; and in March, 1811, Napoleon declared the decrees of Berlin' and 
Milan" to be the fundamental laws of the empire. A new envoy from France, 
who arrived in the United States at about this time, gave official notice to the 
government, that no remuneration would be made for property seized and con- 
fiscated. 

The government of Great Britain acted more honorably, though wickedly. 
She continued her hostile orders, and sent ships of war to cruise near the prin- 
cipal ports of the United States, to intercept American merchant vessels and 
send them to England as lawful prizes. While engaged in this nefarious busi- 
ness, the British sloop of war' Little Belt^ Captain Bingham, was met [April 
16, 1811], off the coast of Virginia, by the American frigate President^ Com- 
modore Rogers.^ That officer hailed the commander of the sloop, and received 
a cannon shot in reply. A brief action ensued, when Captain Bingham, after 
having eleven men killed and twenty-one wounded, gave a satisfactory answer 
to Rogers. The conduct of both officers was approved by their respective gov- 
ernments. That of the United States condemned the act of Bingham as an 
outrage without palliation ; and the government and people felt willing to take 
up arms in defense of right, justice, and honor. Powerful as was the navy of 
Great Britain, and weak as was that of the United States, the people of the 
latter were willing to accept of war as an alternative for submission, and to 
measure strength on the ocean. The British navy consisted of almost nine 
hundred vessels, with an aggregate of one hundred and forty-four thousand 
men. The American vessels of war, of large size, numbered only ticelve, with 
an aggregate of about three hundred guns. Besides these, there were a great 
number of gun-boats, but these were hardly sufficient for a coast-guard. Here 
was a great disparity ; and for a navy so weak to defy a navy so strong, 
seemed madness. It must be remembered, however, that the British navy was 
necessarily very much scattered, for that government had interests to protect in 
various parts of the globe. 

The protracted interruption of commercial operations was attended with 
very serious effect upon the trade and revenue of the United States, and all 
parties longed for a change, even if it must be brought about by war with 
European governments. The Congressional elections in 1810 and 1811, proved 
that the policy of Mr. Madison's administration was sustained by a large ma- 
jority of the American people, the preponderance of the Democratic party 
being kept up in both branches of the Federal Legislature. The opposition, 
who. as a party, were unfavorable to hostilities, were in a decided minority , 
and the government had more strength in its councils than at any time during 
Jefferson's administration. 

For several years war with England had seemed inevitable, and now [1811] 

' Pac^e 400. « Pasre 402. ' Page 415. 

* He died in the Naval Asylum, Piiiladelphia, in August, 1838. 



408 THE CONFEDERATION. [1809. 

many causes were accelerating the progress of events toward such a result. 
Among these, the hostile position of the Indian tribes on the north-western 
frontier of the United States, was one of the most powerful. They, too, had 
felt the pressure of Bonaparte's commercial system. In consequence of the 
exclusion of their furs from the continental markets, the Indian hunters found 
their traffic reduced to the lowest point. The rapid extension of settlements 
north of the Ohio was narrowing their hunting-grounds, and producing a rapid 
diminution of game ; and the introduction of whiskey, by the white people, was 
spreading demoralization, disease, and death among the Indians. These evils, 
coml)ined with the known influence of British emissaries, finally led to open 
hostilities. 

In the spring of 1811, it became certain that Tecumseh, a Shawnee' chief, 
who was crafty, intrepid, unscrupulous, and cruel, and who possessed the qual- 
ities of a great leader, almost equal to those of Pontiac,^ was endeavoring to 
emulate that great Ottawa by confederating the tribes of the north-west in a 
war against the people of the United States. Those over whom himself and 
twin-brother, the Prophet,^ exercised the greatest control, were the Delawares, 
Shawnees, Wyandots, Miamies, Kickapoos, Winnebagoes, and Chippewas.* 
During the summer, the frontier settlers became so alarmed by the continual 
military and religious exercises of the savages, that General Harrison,^ then 
governor of the Indiana Territory, ° marched, with a considerable force, toward 
the town of the Prophet, situated at the junction of the Tippecanoe and 
Wabash Rivers, in the upper part of Tippecanoe county, Indiana. The 
Prophet appeared and proposed a conference, but Harrison, suspecting treach- 
ery, caused his soldiers to sleep on their arms [Nov. 6, 1811] that night. At 
four o'clock the next morning [Nov. 7] the savages fell upon the American 
camp, but after a bloody battle until dawn, the Indians were repulsed. The 
battle of Tippecanoe was one of the most desperate ever fought with the Indians, 
and the loss was heavy on both sides.'' Tecumseh was not present on this occa- 
sion, and it is said the Prophet took no part in the engagement. 

These events, so evidently the work of British interference, aroused the 
spirit of the nation, and throughout the entire West, and in the Middle and 
Southern States, there was a desire for war. Yet the administration fully 
appreciated the deep responsibility involved in such a step ; and having almost 
the entire body of the New England people in opposition, the President and his 
friends hesitated. The British orders in council^ continued to be rigorously 
enforced ; insult after insult was offered to the American flaa; ; and the British 
press insolently boasted that the United States "could not be kicked into a 

^ Page 19. ' Page 204. 

^ In 1809, Governor Harrison had negotiated a treaty with the Miamies [page 19] and- other 
tribes, by which they sold to the United States a large tract of land on both sides of the Wabash. 
The Prophet was present and made no objection ; but Tecumseh, who was absent, was greatly 
dissatisfied. The British em^issaries took advantage of this dissatisfaction, to inflame him and his 
people against the Americans. 

* Page 17. ^ Page 474. « Note 4, page 390. 

' Harrison had upward of sixty killed, and more than a hundred wounded. 

' Note 1, page 400. 



1817.] MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION. 409 

war." Forbearance became no longer a virtue ; and on the 4th of April, 1812, 
Congress laid another embargo' upon vessels in American waters, for ninety 
days. On the 1st of June, the President transmitted a special message to 
Congress, in which he reviewed the difficulties with Great Britain, strongly 
portrayed the aggressions inflicted upon us by that nation, and intimated the 
necessity of war. The message was referred to the Committee 6n Foreign 
Relations, in the House of Representatives, a majority of whom' agreed upon, 
and reported a manifesto [June 3], as the basis of a declaration of war. On 
the following day [June 4, 1812], a bill, drawn up by Mr. Pinckney, the 
Attorney-General of the United States,' declaring war to exist between the 
United States and Great Britain, was presented by Mr. Calhoun. During the 
proceedings on this subject, Congress sat with closed doors. The measure was 
finally agreed to, by both Houses, by fair majorities. It passed the House of 
Representatives by a vote of 79 to 49. On the 17th it passed the Senate by a 
vote of 19 to 13, and on that day it received the signature of the President.* 
Two days afterward [June 19] the President issued a proclamation which 
formally declared war against Gv it Britain.' This is known in history as TUE 
War of 1812 ; or 

THE SECOND WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE.' 

Congress, having authorized the President to declare war, took immediate 
measures to sustain that declaration. It passed an act which gave him author- 
ity to enlist twenty-five thousand men, to accept fifty thousand volunteers, and 
to call out one hundred thousand militia for the defense of the sea-coast and 
frontiers. Fifteen millions of dollars were appropriated for the army, and 
almost three millions for the navy. But at the very threshhold of the new order 



^ Page 402. Four days after this [April 8] Louisiana was admitted into the Union as a State. 

^ John C. Calhoun, of South CaroUna ; Felix Grundy, of Tennessee ; John Smilie, of Pennsyl- 
vania ; John A. Harper, of New Hampshire ; Joseph Desha, of Kentucky ; and Ebenezer Seaver, 
of Massacluisetts. ^ Page 400. 

* The following are the words of that important bill : " Be it enacted, etc., That war be, and the 
same is hereby declared to exist between tlie United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and 
the dependencies thereof, and the United States of America and their Territories; and that the 
President of the United States is hereby authorized to use the whole land and naval force of the 
United States to carry the same into effect, and to issue to private armed vessels of the United 
States, commissions, or letters of marque, and general reprisal, in such form as he shall think proper, 
and under the seal of the United States, against the vessels, goods, and effects of the government 
of the said United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the subjects thereof" 

^ The chief causes for this act were the impressment of American seamen by the British; the 
blockade of Fr(>nch ports witliout an adequate force to sustain the act; and the British Orders %n 
Council. The Federalists in Congress presented an ably- written protest, which denied the necessity 
or the expediency of war. 

° This is an appropriate title, for, until the termination of that war, the United States were only 
nominally free. Blessed with prosperity, the people dreaded war, and submitted to many acts ot 
tyranny "and insult from Great Britain and France, rather than become involved in another conflict. 
Socially and commercially, the United States were dependent upon Europe, and esi)ecially upon 
England; and the latter was rapidlv acquirinir a danorerous political interest here, when the war 
broke out. The war begun in 1775' was reallv onlv the first great step toward independence; the 
war begun in 1812, first thoroughly accomplislied it. Franklin once heard a person speakmg of 
the Revolution as the War of Independence, and reproved him, saying, '" Sir, you mean the Revolu- 
tion : the war of Independence is yet to come. It was a war for Independence, but not of Inde- 
pendence." 



410 THE CONFEDERATION. [1809. 

of things, the administration was met hy determined opposition. The Federal 
members of the House of Representatives published an address to their con- 
stituents, in -which they set forth the state of the country at that time, the 
course of the administration and its supporters in Congress, and the reasons of 
the minority for opposing the war. This was fair and honorable. But outside 
of Congress, a party, composed chiefly of Federalists, with some disaffected 
Democrats, was organized under the name of the Peace parti/. Its object was 
to cast such obstructions in the way of the prosecution of the war, as to compel 
the government to make peace. This movement, so unpatriotic, the offspring 
of the lowest elements of faction, was frowned upon by the most respectable 
members of the Federal party, and some of them gave the government their 
hearty support, when it was necessary, in order to carry on the war with vigor 
and effect. 

The first care of the government, in organizing the army, was to select 
efficient officers. Nearly all of the general officers of the Revolution were in 
their graves, or were too old for service, and even those of subordinate rank in 
that war, who yet remained, were far advanced in life. 
Yet upon them the chief duties of leadership were 
devolved. Henry Dearborn' was appointed major- 
general and commander-in-chief; and his principal 
brigadiers Avere James Wilkinson," Wade Hampton,^ 
William HulV and Joseph Bloomfield — all of them 
esteemed soldiers of the Revolution. 

Hull was governor of the Territory of Michigan, 
and held the commission of a brigadier-general. When 
war Avas declared, he was marching, with a. little more 
GENERAL DEARBORN. thuu two thousaud troops, from Ohio, to attempt the 
subjugation of the hostile Indians.'* Congress gave 
him discretionary powers for invading Canada; but caution and preparation 
were necessary, because the British authorities, a long time in expectation of 
war, had taken measures accordingly." Feeling strong enough for the enemy, 
Hull, on the 12th of July, 1812, crossed the Detroit River Avith his whole 
force, to attack Fort Maiden, a British post near the present village of Amherst- 
burg. At Sandwich, he encamped, and by a fatal delay, lost every advantage 
which an immediate attack might have secured. In the mean while, Fort 

Henry Dearborn was a native of New Hampshire, and a meritorious officer in the continental 
army. He accompanied Arnold to Quebec, and was distinguished in the battles which ruined 
Bnrgoyne [page 281]. He held civil offices of trust after the Revolution. He returned to private 
life in 1815, and died at Roxbury, near Boston, in 1829, at the age of seventy-eight years. 

^ rages 396 and 426. ^ Note 3, page 427. •• Note 4, page 411. * Page 408. 

* Canada then consisted of two provinces. The old French settlements on the St. Lawrence, 
with a population of about three hundred thousand, constituted Lower Canada; while the more 
recent settlements above Montreal, and chiefly upon the northern shore of Lake Ontario, including 
about one hundred thousand inhabitants, composed Upper Canada. These were principally the 
families of American loyalists, who were compelled to leave the States at the close of the Revolu- 
tion. Then each province had its own governor and Legislature. The regular military force, which 
was scattered over a sjiace of more than a thousand miles, did not exceed two thousand men; 
hence the British commanders were compelled to call for volunteers, and they used the Indians 
to good effect, in their favor. 




1817.] MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION. 41I 

Mackinaw, one of the strongest posts of the United States in the north-west,' 
was surprised and captured [July 17, 1812] by an allied force of British and 
Indians ; and on the 5th of August, a detachment under Major Van Home, 
sent by Hull to escort an approacliing supply-party to camp, were defeated by 
some British and Indians near Brownstown, on the Huron River.'' These 
events, and the reinforcement of the garrison at Maiden, by General Brock, 
the British commander-in-chief, caused Hull to recross the river on the 7th of 
August, abandon the expedition against Canada, and take post at Detroit, much 
to the disappointment of his troops, who were anxious to measure strength with 
the enemy. 

On the 9th of August, General Brock crossed the river with seven hundred 
British troops and six hundred Indians, and demanded an instant surrender of 
Detroit, threatening at the same time to give free rein to Indian cruelty in the 
event of refusal. Hull's excessive prudence determined him to surrender, 
rather than expose his troops to the hatchet. AVhen the assailants approached, 
and at the moment when the Americans were hoping for and expecting a com- 
mand to fire, he ordered his troops to retire within the fort, and hung a white 
flag ui)on the wall, in token of submission. The army, fort, stores, garrison, 
and Territory, were all surrendered [August 16, 1812], to the astonishment of 
the victor himself, and the deep mortification of the American troops. Hull 
was afterward tried by a court-martiaP [1S14], on charges of treason and cow- 
ardice. He was found guilty of the latter, and sentenced to be shot, but was 
pardoned by the President on account of his revolutionary services. Tlie whole 
country severely censured him ; and the rage of the war party, increased by 
the taunts of the Federalists, because of the disastrous termination of one of the 
first expeditions of the campaign, was unbounded. The difiiculties with Avhich 
Hull was surrounded — his small force (only about eight hundred eflectivc men) ; 
the inexperience of his officers, and the rawness of his troops ; his lack of infor- 
mation, because of the interception of his communications ; and the number and 
character of the enemy — were all kept out of sight, while bitter denunciations 
were poured upon his head. In after years, he was permitted fully to vindicate 
his character, and the sober judgment of this generation, guided by historic 
truth, must acquit him of all crime, and even serious error, and pity him as a 
victim of untoward circutnstances." 



' Formerly spelled Miehilimackiuac. It was situated upou an island of that name, near the 
Straits of Mackinaw or Michilimakinac. 

* On the 8th, Colonel Miller and several hundred men, sent by Hull to accomplish the object of 
Van IIorn3, met and defeated Tecumseh [page 408] and his Indians, with a party of British, near 
the scene of Van Home's failure. 

3 He was taken to Montreal a prisoner, and was afterward exchanged for tliirty British cap- 
tives. Ho was tried at Albany, New York. 

* Hull published his Vindication in 1824; and in 1848, his grandson published a large octavo 
volume, giving a full and thorough vindication of the character of the general, the material for 
which was drawn from official records. Hull's thorough knowledge of the character of the foe who 
menaced him, and a humane desire to spare his troops, was doubtless his sole reason for surrender- 
ing the post. A good and bravo man has too long sufl'ercd the reproaches of histon-. William 
Hull was born in Connecticut in 175!!. He rose to the rank of major in the continentnl army, and 
was distinguished for his braver}^ lie was appointed governor of the Michigan Territory in 1 805. 
After the close of his unfortunate campaign, he never appeared hi public life. He died near Boston 
in 1825. 



412 THE CONFEDERATION. • [1809. 

At about this time, a tnigedy occurred near the head of Lake Michigan, 
which sent a thrill of horror through the land. Captain Ileald, with a com- 
pany of fifty regulars, occupied Fort Dearborn, on the site of the present 
large city of Chicago.' Hull ordered him to evacuate that post in the deep 
wilderness, and hasten to Detroit. He left the public property in charge of 
friendly Indians, but had proceeded only a short distance from the fort, along 
the beach, Avhen he was attacked by a body of Indians. Twenty-six of the reg- 
ular troops, and all of the militia, were slaughtered. A number of women and 
children were murdered and scalped ; and Captain Heald, with his wife, though 
severely wounded, escaped to Michilimackinac.^ His wife also received si.x 
wounds, but none proved mortal. This event occurred on the day before Hull's 
surrender [Aug. 15, 1812] at Detroit, and added to the gloom that overspread, 
and the indignation that flashed through, the length and breadth of the land. 

While these misfortunes were befalling the Army of the North-west,'' the 
opponents of the war were casting obstacles in the way of the other divisions of 
the American troops operating in the State of New York, and preparing for 
another invasion of Canada.* The governors of JNLissachusetts, New Hamp- 
shire, and Connecticut, refused to allow the militia of those States to march to 
the northern frontier on the requisition of the President of the United States. 
They defended their unpatriotic position by the plea that such a requisition was 
unconstitutional, and that the war was unnecessary. The British government, 
in the mean while, had declared the whole American coast in a state of block- 
ade, except that of the New England States, whose apparent sympathy with 
the enemies of their country, caused them to be regarded as ready to leave the 
Union, and become subject to the British crown. Bat there was sterling 
patriotism sufficient there to prevent such a catastrophe, even if a movement, 
so fraught with evil, had been contemplated. Yet the effect was chilling to the 
best friends of the country, and the President felt the necessity of extreme cir- 
cumspection. 

Unmindful of the intrigues of its foes, however, the administration perse- 
vered ; and during the summer of 1812, a plan was matured for invading Can- 
ada on the Niagara frontier. The militia of the State of New York were 
placed, by Governor Tompkins, under the command of Stephen Van Rensselaer,' 

^ Chicago is built upon the verge of Lake Michigan and the borders of a great prairie, and is 
one of the wonders of the material and social progress of the United States. The Pottawatomie 
Indians [page 18], by treaty, left that spot to tlie white people in 1833. The dtv was laid out in 
1830, and lots were first sold in 1831. In 1840, the population was 4,470. Now [1856] it can not 
be less than 80,000 ! a p^^^ ^^l. 

^ Tlie forces under General Harrison were called the Army of the North-west; those under Gen- 
eral Stephen Van Rensselaer, at Lewiston, on the Niagara River, the Army of the Center; and 
those under General Dearborn, at Plattsburg and at Greenbush, near Albany, the Armii of the 
North. 4 pggg 4^0. 

Stephen Van Rensselaer, a lineal descendant of one of the earliest and best known of the 
Patroons [note 10, page 139] of the State of New York, was born at the manor-house, near Albany, 
in November, 1764. The War for Independence had just closed when he came into possession of 
his immense estate, at tlie age of twenty-one years. He engaged in politics, was a warm supporter 
of the Federal Constitution, and was elected Lieutenant-Governor of New York in 179.> He was 
very little engaged in politics after the defeat of the Federal party in 1800 [page 388]. After 
the Second War for Independence, he was elected to a seat in CongVess; and, by his casting vote 
in the New York delegation, he gave the Presidency of the United States to John Quincy A^dams. 



1817.] 



MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION. 



41( 



who was commissioned ft Major-General. Intelligence of the surrender of Hull' 
had inspired the Americans with a strong desire to wipe out the disgrace ; and 
the regiments were filled without much difficulty. These forces were concen- 
trated chiefly at Lewiston, on the Niagara frontier, under Van Rensselaer, and 
at Plattsburg, on Lake Champlain, and Greenbush, near Albany, under General 
De^i'born. 




The first demonstration against the neighboring province was made on the 
Niao^ara. in mid-autumn. In anticipation of such movement, British troops 
were strongly posted on the heights of Queenstown, opposite Lewiston ; and on 
the morning of the 13th of October [1812], two hundred and twenty-five men, 
under Colonel Solomon Van Rensselaer,' crossed over to attack them. The 
commander was severely wounded, at the landing: but his troops pressed for- 
ward, under Captains Wool' and Ogilvie, successfully assaulted a battery near 

Here closed his political life, and he passed the remainder of his days in the performance of social 
and Christian duties. He was for several years president of the Board of Canal Commissioners, 
and, while in that office, he died in January, 18-10, in the seventy-fifth year of his age. 

> Pase 411. 

" Soiomon Van Rensselaer was one of the bravest and best men of his time; and to his efforts, 
more than to those of any other man, the salvation of the American army on the northern frontier, 
at this time, was due. He died at Albany on the 3d of April, 1852. 

■ John E. Wool, now [1856] Major-General in the army of the United States. 



414 THE CONFEDERATION. • [1809. 

the summit of the hill, and gained possession of Queenatown Heights. But the 
victory was not yet complete. General Sir Isaac Brock approached from 
Fort George, with six hundred men, and attempted to regain the battery. The 
British were repulsed, and Brock was killed.' In the mean while. General 
Stephen Van Rensselaer, who had crossed over, returned to Lewiston, and was 
usino- his most earnest efforts to send reinforcements ; but only about one y;iou- 
sand troops, many of them quite undisciplined, could be induced to cross the 
river. These were attacked in the afternoon [Oct. 13, 1812] by fresh troops 
from Fort George, and a body of Chippewa Indians, and were nearly all killed 
or made prisoners, while at least fifteen hundred of their companions-in-arms 
coAvardly refused to cross to their aid. The latter excused their conduct by the 
plea, put into their mouths by the opponents of the war, that they considered it 
wrono- to invade the enemy's country, the war being avowedly a defensive one. 
The enemies of the administration applauded them for their conscientiousness, 
while a victory that might have led to reconciliation and peace, was lost at the 
winning moment. General Van Rensselaer, disgusted with the inefficiency 
everywhere displayed, left the service, and was succeeded by General Alex- 
ander Smyth, of Virginia This officer accomplished nothing of importance 
during the remainder of the season : and when the troops went into winter 
quarters [Dec], there appeared to have been very few achievements made by 
the American army worthy of honorable mention in history. 

While the army was suffering defeats, and became, in the mouths of the 
opponents of the administration, a staple rebuke, the little navy had acquitted 
itself nobly, and the national honor and prowess had been fully vindicated upon 
the ocean. At this time the British navy numbered one thousand and sixty 
vessels, while that of the United States, exclusive of gun-boats," numbered only 
twenty. Two of these were unseaworthy, and one was on Lake Ontario. Nine 
of the American vessels were of a class less than frigates, and all of them could 
not Avell compare in appointments with those of the enemy. Yet the Americans 
were not dismayed by this disparity, but went out boldly in their ships to meet 
the war vessels of the proudest maritime nation upon the earth.' Victory after 
victory told of their skill and prowess. On the 19th of August, 1812, the 
United States frigate Const tut'xon^ Commodore Isaac Hull,^ fought the British 
frigate Guerriere^" Captain Dacres, off the American coast, in the present track 
of ships to Great Britain. The contest continued about forty minutes, when 

^ Sir Isaac Brock was a brave and generous officer. There is a fine monument erected to hia 
memory on Queenstown Heights, a short distance from the Niagara River. " Page 401. 

^ At the time of the declaration of war, Commodore Rogers [page 407] was at Sandy Hook, 
New York, with a small squadron, consisting of the frigates President, Congress, United States, and 
the sloop-of-war Hornet. He put to sea on the 21st of June, in pursuit of a British squadron which 
had sailed as a convoy of the West India fleet. After a slight engagement, and a chase of several 
hours, the pursuit was abandoned at near midnight. The frigate Essex [page 430] went to sea on 
th3 3d of July; the Gonstitution, on the 12th. The brigs Nautilus, Viper, and Vixen were then 
cruising off the coast, and the sloop Wasp was at sea on her return from France. 

* Isaac Hull was made a lieutenant in the navy in 1798, and was soon distinguished for skill 
and bravery. He rendered important service to his country, and died in Philadelphia in February, 
1843. 

° This vessel had been one of a British squadron which gave the Constitution a long and close 
chase about a month before, during which the nautical skill of Hull was most signally displayed. 



1817.] MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION. 4^5 

Dacres surrendered;' and his vessel was such a complete wreck, that the victor 
burned her. The Constitution, it is said, was so little damaged, that she was 
ready for action the following day. This victory had a powerful effect on the 
public mind in both countries. 

On the 18th of October, 1812, the United States sloop-of-war, Wasp, 
Captain Jones, captured the British brig Frolic, off the 
coast of North Carolina, after a very severe conflict for ^__Jp^^ 

three-quarters of an hour. The slaughter on board the x^ ".^TT ^' 

Frolic was dreadful. Only three officers and one seaman. j^/\/m>\ ^~rj>- 
of eighty -four, remained unhurt. The others were killed ^^'^^7/m "^Wl^J 
or badly wounded. The Wasp lost only ten men. Her j^^aaj.L^: ![i.i;^L- 
term of victory was short, for the same afternoon, the ^^^^^^^^^^^' 
British seventy-four gun ship Poictiers captured both -^^^^ ~ 

vessels. A week afterward [October 25], the frigate sloop-of-wak. 

United tStafes, Commodore Decatur," fought the British 

frigate Macedonian, west of the Canary Islands, for almost two hours. After 
being greatly damaged, and losing more than one hundred men, in killed and 
wounded, the Ilacedonian surrendered. Decatur lost only five killed and 
seven wounded ; and his vessel was very little injured. A few weeks after- 
ward [December 29, 1812], the Constitution, then commanded by Commodore 
Bainbridge,^ became a victor, after combatting the British frigate Java for 
almost three hours, off San Salvador, on the coast of Brazil. The Java had 
four hundred men on board, of whom almost two hundred were killed or 
wounded. The Constitution was again very little injured ; but she made such 
havoc with the Java, that Bainbridge, finding her incapable of floating long, 
burned her [January 1, 1813], three days after the action. 

The Americans were greatly elated by these victories. Nor were they con- 
fined to the national vessels. Numerous privateers, which now swarmed upon 
the ocean, were making prizes in every direction, and accounts of their exploits 
filled the newspapers. It is estimated that during the year 1812, upward of 
fifty British armed vessels, and two hundred and fifty merchantmen, with an 
aggregate of more than three thousand prisoners, and a vast amount of booty, 
were captured by the Americans. These achievements wounded British pride 
in a tender part, for England claimed the appellation of "mistress of the seas." 
They also strengthened the administration ; and at the close of the year, naval 
armaments were in preparation on the lakes, to assist the army in a projected 
invasion of Canada the following spring. 

At the close of these defeats upon land, and these victories upon the ocean, 
the election of President and Vice-President of the United States, and also of 
members of Congress, occurred. The administration was strongly sustained by 
the popular vote. Mr. Madison was re-elected, with El])ridge Gerry' as A^ice- 
President — George Clinton having died at Washington in April of that year.* 



' On the Guerriere were seventy-nine killed and wounded. The ConsUM'm lost seven killed 
and seven wounded. ' Paore 392. 

' Page 391. * Note 1, page 385, * Note 5, page 350. 



416 THE CONFEDERATION. [1813. 

A fraction of the Democratic party, and most of the Federalists, voted for De 
Witt Clinton' for President, and Jared Ingersoll, for Vice-President. Not- 
withstanding the members of Congress then elected, were chiefly Democrats, it 
was evident that the opposition was powerful and increasing, particularly in the 
eastern States, yet the President felt certain that the great body of the people 
were favorable to his war policy. 



CHAPTER V. 

THE SECOND WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. [1813.] 

DuKiNG the autumn of 1812, the whole western country, incensed by 
Hull's surrender, seemed filled with the zeal of the old Crusaders." Michigan 
had to be recovered,' and the greatest warlike enthusiasm prevailed. Volun- 
teers had gathered under local leaders, in every settlement. Companies were 
formed and equipped in a single day, and were ready to march the next. For 
several weeks the volunteers found employment in driving the hostile Indians 
from post to post, in the vicinity of the extreme western settlements. They 
desolated their villages and plantations, after the manner of Sullivan, in 1 779,* 
and the fiercest indignation against the white people was thus excited among 
the tribes, which, under the stimulus of their British allies, led to terrible 
retaliations.^ So eager Avere the people for battle, that the snows of winter in 
the great wilderness, did not keep them from the field. The campaign of 1813 
opened with the year. Almost the entire northern frontier of the United 
States was the chief theatre of operations. The army of the West,^ under 
General Hari'ison,' was concentrating at the head of Lake Erie ; that of the 
Centre,^ now under Dearborn, was on the banks of the Niagara River; and 
that of the North^" under Hampton, was on the borders of Lake Champlain. 
Sir George Prevost was the successor of Brock'" in command of the British 
army in Canada, assisted by General Proctor in the direction of Detroit," and 
by General Sheaffe in the vicinity of Montreal and the lower portions of Lake 
Champlain. 

Brave and experienced leaders had rallied to the standard of Harrison in 
the north-west. Kentucky sent swarms of her young men, from every social 

' Page 456. ' '^ Note 5, page 38. = Page 411. •• Page 304. 

' Harrison early took steps to relieve the frontier posts. These were Fort Harrison, on the 
Wabash; Fort Wayne, on the Miami of the lakes; Fort Defiance [Note 6, page 374]; and Fort 
Deposit, to wliich the Indians laid siege on the 12th of September. Generals Winchester, Tupper, 
and Payne, and Colonels Wells, Scott, Lewis, Jennings, and Allen, were the chief leaders against 
the savages. Operations were carried on vigorously, further west. Early in October, almost four 
thousand volunteers, chiefly mounted riflemen, under General Hopkins, had collected at Yincennes 
[page 303] for an expedition against the towns of the Peoria and other Indians, in the Wabash 
country. It was this formidable expedition, sanctioned by Governor Shelby, which produced the 
greatest devastation in the Indian country. * Note 3, page 412. '' Page 474. 

* Note 3, page 412. « Note 3, page 412. " Page 411. " Page 412. 



1813.] 



THE SECOND WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 



417 



rank, led by the veteran Shelby,' and the yeomanry of Ohio and its neighbor- 
hood hastened to the field. So numerous were the volunteers, that Harrison 
was compelled to issue an order against further enlistments, and many a warm 
heart, beating Avith desire for military glory, was chilled by disappointment. 
General Harrison chose the west end of Lake Erie as his chief place of muster, 




with the design of making a descent upon the British at Maiden and Detroit," 
and by securing possession of those posts, recover Michigan and the forts west 
of it. Early in January [10th, 1813], General Winchester, on his way from 
the southward, with eight hundred young men, chiefly Kentuckians, reached 
the Maumee Rapids.^ There he was informed [January 13, 1813] that a 
party of British and Indians had concentrated at Frenchtown, on the river 
Raisin, ' twenty-five miles south of Detroit. He immediately sent a detachment, 

' Isaac Shelby WcOS born in Maryland, in 1750. He entered military life in 1774, and went to 
Kentucky as a land-surv(\yor, in 1775. He en^raged in the War of the Revolution, and wns dL«- 
tiuguishod in the battle on Kinii's Mountain [page 319] in 1780. He was made governor of Ken- 
tucky in 1792, and soon afterward retired to private life, from which he was drawn, first in 1812. to 
the duties of Chief Magistrate of his State, and again, in 1813, to lead an army to the field against 
his old enemy. He died in 1826, when almost seventy-six years of age. * Page 412. 

' Note 7, page 374. 

* Opposite the flourishing village of Monroe. Michigan, two or three miles from Lake Erie. The 
Raisin derived its name from the fact, that in former years great quantities of grapes clustered upon 
its banks. 

27 



418 THE CONFEDERATION, [1813. 

under Colonels Allen and Lewis, to protect the inhabitants in that direction. 
Finding FrcnchtoAvn in the possession of the enemy, thej successfullj attacked 
[January 18J and routed them, and held possession until the arrival of Win- 
chester [January 20J, with almost three hundred men, two days afterward. 

General Proctor, who was at Maiden, eighteen miles distant, heard of the 
advance of Winchester, and proceeded immediately and secretly, with a com- 
bined force of fifteen hundred British and Indians, to attack him. They fell 
upon the American camp at dawn, on the morning of the 22d of January. 
After a severe battle and heavy loss on both sides, AVinchester, ' who had been 
made a prisoner by the Indians, surrendered his troops on the condition, agreed 
to by Proctor, that ample protection to all should be given. Proctor, fearing 
the approach of Harrison, who was then on the Lower Sandusky, immediately 
marched for Maiden, leaving the sick and wounded Americans behind, without 
a guard. After following him some distance, the Indians turned back [January 
23], murdered and scalped" the Americans who were unable to travel, set fire 
to dwellings, took many prisoners to Detroit, in order to procure exorbitant 
ransom prices, and reserved some of them for inhuman torture. The indiffer- 
ence of Proctor and his troops, on this occasion, was criminal in the highest 
degree, and gave just ground for the dreadful suspicion, that they encouraged 
the savages in their deeds of blood. Oftentimes after that, the war-cry of the 
Kentuckians was, " Remember the River Raisin!" The tragedy was keenly 
felt in all the Avestern region, and especially in Kentucky, for the slain, by bul- 
let, arrow% tomahawk, and brand, Avere generally of the most respectable fam- 
ilies in the State ; many of them young men of fortune and distinction, with 
numerous friends and relations. 

Harrison had advanced to the Maumee Rapids, when the intelligence of the 
affair at Frenchtown reached him. Supposing Proctor would 
press forward to attack him, he fell back [January 23, 1813] ; 
but on hearing of the march of the British toward Maiden, he 
advanced [February 1] to the rapids, with twelve hundred men, 
established a fortified camp there, and called it Fort Meigs,' in 
honor of the governor of Ohio. There he was besieged 
by Proctor several weeks afterward [May 1], who was 
at the head of more than two thousand British and Indians. 
On the fifth day of the siege, General Clay* arrived [May 5] 
with twelve hundred men, and dispersed the enemy. A large 
portion of his troops, while unwisely pursuing the fugitives, were 
surrounded and captured ; and Proctor returned to the siege. 
The impatient Indians, refusing to hsten to Tecumseh,^ their leader, deserted 

' James Wmchester was bom in Maryland in 1750. He was made brigadier-general in 1812 ; 
resigned his commission in 1815 ; and died in Tennessee in 1826. " Note 4, page 14. 

^ Fort Meigs was erected on the south side of tlie Maumee, nearly opposite the former British 
post [note 8, page 374], and a short distance from the present viUage of Perrysburg. 

* Green Clay was born in Virginia in 1757, was made a brigadier of Kentucky volunteers early 
in 1813, and died in October, 1826. 

^ Page 408. Tecumseh came with the largest body of Indians over collected on the northern 
frontier. 




FORT MEIGS. 



1813.] THE SECOND WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 4^9 

the British on the eighth day [May 8] ; and twenty-four hours afterward, 
Proctor abandoned the siege and returned to Maiden [May 9], to prepare for 
a more formidable invasion. Thus terminated a siege of thirteen days, during 
which time the fortitude and courage of the Americans were wonderfully dis- 
played in the presence of the enemy. The Americans lost in the fort, eighty- 
one killed, and one hundred and eighty-nine wounded. 

For several weeks after the siege of Fort Meigs, military operations were 
suspended by both parties. Here, then, let us take a brief retrospective glance. 
Congress assembled on the 2d of November, 1812, and its councils were divided 
by fierce party spirit, which came down from the people. The Democrats had 
a decided majority, and therefore the measures of the administration were sus- 
tained. The British government now began to show some desire for reconcilia- 
tion. Already the orders in council had been repealed, and the Prince Regent' 
demanded that hostilities should cease. To this the President replied, that being 
now at war, the United States would not put an end to it, unless full provisions 
were made for a general settlement of diflFerences, and a cessation of the practice 
of impressment, pending the negotiation. At about the same time a law was 
passed, prohibiting the employment of British seamen in American vessels. The 
British also proposed an armistice, but upon terms which the Americans could 
not accept. Indeed, all propositions from that quarter were inconsistent Avith 
honor and justice, and they were rejected. When these attempts at reconcilia- 
tion had failed, the Emperor Alexander of Russia offered his mediation. The 
government of the United States instantly accepted it,^ but the British govern- 
ment refused it ; and so the war went on. Congress made provision for prose- 
cuting it with vigor; and the hope lighted by Alexander's offer, soon faded. 

The American troops in the West had remained at Fort ]\Ieigs and vicinity. 
Toward the close of July [July 21, 1813], about four thousand British and 
Indians, under Proctor andTecumseh,^ again appeared before that fortress, then 
commanded by General Clay. Meeting with a vigorous re- 
sistance. Proctor left Tecumseh to watch the fort, while he 
marched [July 28], with five hundred regulars and eight 
hundred Indians, to attack Fort Stephenson, at Lower San- 
dusky,^ which was garrisoned by about one hundred and fifty 

•^ ' O ''^ , "^ FOKT SANDUSKY. 

young men,'* commanded by Major Croghan, a brave soldier, 



' "When, in consequence of mental infirmity, George the Third became incompetent to reign, in 
February, 1811, his son, George, Prince of Wales, and afterward George the Fourth, was made 
regent, or temporary ruler of the realm. He retained the office of king, iwo tempore, imtil the death 
of his father, in 1820. 

* The President appointed, as commissioners, or envoys cxtraordmary, to ne|:otiato a treaty of 
peace with Great Britain, under the Russian mediation, Albert Gallatin, John Quincy Adams, and 
James A. Bayard. Mr. Adams was then American minister at the Russian court, and was joined 
by Messrs. Gallatin and Bayard in June following. ' Page 408. 

* On the west bank of the Sandusky River, about fifteen miles south from Sandusky Bay. The 
area witliin the pickets [note 1, page 127] was about an acre. The fort was made of regular em- 
bankments of earth and a ditch, with bastions and block-liouses [note 3, page 192] and some rude 
log buildings within. 

^ The greater portion of the garrison were very young men, and some of them were mero 
youths. 



r ...„„^^:i .__.... ;l 


1 


TiTI'iiiiwi'll' myj IT" ■. LiiLL. 


LKL-'.'ttifj--- 


ontLL 1 

T ^ 




i= 


U»r--^l 




420 THE CONFEDERATION. [1813. 

then only twenty-ouo years of age.' Proctor's demand for surrender was accom- 
panied by the usual menace of Indian massacre ; but it 
did not intimidate Croghan.^ After a severe cannonade' 
had made a breach, about five hundred of the besiegers 
attempted to rush in and take the place by assault [Aug. 
2, 1813] ; but so terribly were they met by grape-shot* 
from the only cannon in the fort, that they recoiled, panic- 
stricken, and the whole body fled in confusion, leaving 
one hundred and fifty of their number killed or wounded. 
The Americans lost only one man killed, and seven 
wounded. This gallant defense was universally ap- 
MAjoR cROGiiAN. piaudcd,' aiid it had a powerful eifect upon the Indians. 
Proctor and Tecumseh left for Detroit, after this noble defense of Fort 
Stephenson, and the British abandoned all hope of capturing these western 
American posts, until they should become masters of Lake Erie. But Avhile 
the events just narrated were in progress, a new power appeared in the conflict 
in the West and North, and complicated the difl[iculties of the enemy. In the 
autumn of 1812, Commodore Chauncey had fitted out a small naval armament 
at Sackett's Harbor, to dispute the mastery, on Lake Ontario, with several 
British armed vessels then afloat." And during the summer of 1813, Commo- 
dore Oliver Hazzard Perry had prepared, on Lake Erie, an American squadron 
of nine vessels,^ mounting fifty-four guns, to co-operate with the Army of the 
West. The British had also fitted out a small squadron of six vessels, carrying 
sixty-three guns, commanded by Commodore Barclay. Perry's fleet was ready 
by the 2d of August, but some time was occupied in getting several of his ves- 
sels over the bar in the harbor of Erie. The hostile fleets met near the west- 
ern extremity of Lake Erie on the morning of the 10th of September, 1813, 
and a very severe battle ensued. The brave Perry managed with the skill of 
an old admiral, and the courage of the proudest soldier. His flag-ship, the 
Lawrence^ had to bear the brunt of the battle, and very soon she became an 
unmanageable wreck, having all her crew, except four or five, killed or 
wounded. Perry then left her, in an open boat, and hoisted his flag on the 
Nia(jara at the moment when that of the Lawrence fell. With this vessel he 

' George Croghan was a nephew of George Rogers Clarke [page 300]. He afterward rose to 
the rank of colonel, and held the ofSce of inspector-general. He died at New Orleans in 18-19. 

^ In reply to Proctor's demand and threat, he said, in substance, that when the fort should be 
taken there would be none left to massacre, as it would not be given up while there was a man left 
to fight. 

^ The British employed six six-pounders and a howitzer, in the siege. A howitzer is a piece 
of ordnance simOar to a mortar, for hurling bomb-sliells. * Note 4, page 242. 

^ Major Croghan was immediately promoted to the rank of lieutenant- colonel ; and the ladies 
of Clnllicothe gav^ him an elegant sword. 

^ Cliauncey's squadron consisted of six vessels, mounting thirty-two guns, in all. The British 
squadron consisted of the same number of vessels, but mounting more than a liundred guns. Not- 
withstanding this disparity, Chauncey attacked them near Kingston [note 5, page 180] early in 
November, damaged them a good deal, and captured and carried into Sackett's Harbor, a schooner 
belonging to the enemy. He then cajjtured another schooner, which had $12,000 in specie on board, 
and the baggage of the deceased General Brock. See page 414. 

' Zawjrewce (flag-ship), 20 guns; Niagara, 20; Caledonian, 3; shooner Ariel, 4; Scorpion, 2; 
Somers, 2 guns and 2 swivels ; sloop Trippe, and schooners Tigress and Porcupine, of 1 gun each. 




Perry on Lake Erie. 



1813.] 



THE SECOND WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 



423 



passed through the enemy's line, pouring broadsides, right and left, at half 
pistol-shot distance. The remainder of the squadron followed, with a fair wind 
and the victory was soon decided. At four o'clock in the afternoon, every 
British vessel had surrendered to him ;' and before sunset, he had sent a mes- 
senger to General Harrison with the famous dispatch, " We have met the 
enemy, and they are ours?^ This victory was hailed with unbounded demon- 




f^^ 



Strations of joy. For a moment, party rancor Avas almost forgotten ; and bon- 
fires and illuminations lighted up the whole country. 

Perry's victory was followed by immediate and energetic action on the part 
of Harrison. The command of Lake Erie now being secured, and a reinforce- 
ment of four thousand Kentucky volunteers, under Governor Shelby, the old 
hero of King's Mountain,'' having arrived [Sept. 17, 1813], the general pro- 
ceeded to attack Maiden and attempt the recovery of Detroit. The fleet con- 
veyed a portion of the troops across the lake [Sept 27], but on their arrival at 
Maiden, it had been deserted by Proctor, who was fleeing, with Tecuniseh and 
his Indians, toward the Moravian villaf^e, on the Thames, eighty miles from 



' The carnag:e was very crreat, in proportion to the numbers ensagcd. The Amcrieans lo?t 
twenty-seven killed, and ninety-six woniidpd. The Britisli Inst about two hundred in killed and 
wounded, and six hundred prisoners. Pcrrv's treatment of his prisoners received the hijrhest ap- 
plause. Commodore Barclay declared that iiis humane conduct was sufficient to immortalize him. 
That bravo commander was born at Newport, Rhode Tslniul, in 1185. He entered the service na 
midshipman, in 1798. He continued in active service after the close of the Second "War for Inde- 
pendence, and died of yellow fever, in the West India sens, in 1819. It was his brother. Commo- 
dore M. C. Perry, who effected a treaty with Jaiiau in 1851. See page 512. " Page 417. 



424 THE CONFEDERATION. [1813. 

Detroit.' A body of Americans took possession of Detroit on the 29th of Sep- 
tember ; and on the 2d of October, Harrison and Shelby, with Colonel Richard 
M. Johnson and his cavalry (thirty-five hundred strong), started in pursuit of 
the enemy.' They overtook them [Oct. 5] at the INIoravian town, when a des- 
perate battle ensued. Tecumseh was slain ;' and then his dismayed followers, 
who had fought furiously, broke and fled. Almost the whole of Proctor's com- 
mand were killed or made prisoners, and the general himself narrowly escaped, 
with a few of his cavalry. Here the Americans recaptured six brass field- 
pieces which had been surrendered by Hull, on two of which were engraved the 
words, "Surrendered by Burgoyne at Saratoga.'" These pieces are now at 
the United States military post of West Point, on the Hudson.^ 

The battle on the Thames was a very important one. By that victory, all 
that Hull" had lost was recovered ; the Indian confederacy' was completely 
broken up, and the war on the north-western borders of the Union was termi- 
nated. The name of Harrison was upon every lip ; and throughout the entire 
Republic, there was a general outburst of gratitude. He was complimented by 
Congress, and by various pviblic bodies ; and a member of the House of Repre- 
sentatives asserted, in his place, that his victory was "such as would have 
secured to a Roman general, in the best days of the republic, the honors of a 
triumph." Security now being given to the frontier. General Harrison dis- 
missed a greater portion of the volunteers ; and leaving General Cass, with 
about a thousand regulars, to garrison Detroit, proceeded [Oct. 23, 1813] to 
Niagara, with the remainder of his troops, to join the Army of the Center,* 
which had been making some endeavors to invade Canada. In the mean while, 
an Indian war had been kindled in the South ;° and on the ocean, the laurel 
wreaths of triumph won by the Americans during 1812,'° had been interwoven 
with garlands of cypress on account of reverses. Let us turn a moment to the 
operations of the Army of the North." 

Hostilities were kept up on portions of the northern frontier, during the 
winter, as well as in the West. In February [1813], a detachment of British 
soldiers crossed the St. Lawrence on the ice, from Prescott to Ogdensburg, and 
under pretense of seeking for deserters, committed robberies. Major Forsyth, 
then in command of riflemen there, retaliated. This was resented, in turn, by 

' Tn the present town of Orford, "West Canada. 

'^ Commodore Perry, and General Cass, (now [1856] United States Senator from Michigan,) ac- 
companied General Harrison as volunteer aids. The Americans moved with such rapidity, that 
they traveled twenty-six miles the first daj". 

^ Tecumseh was then only about forty years of ap:e. He was a man of great ability, and had 
he been born and educated in civilized society, his powerful intellect would have made him one of 
tlie most distinguished characters of the age. He possessed great dignity, and always maintained 
it in his deportment. On one occasion he was to attend a conference held with Harrison. A circle 
of the company had been formed ; and when ho came and entered it, there was no seat for him, 
Harrison's aid having taken the one by the side of the general, intended for him. Harrison per- 
ceived that Tecumseh was offended, and told his aid to invite the chief to the seat near him. The 
aid politely said to Tecumseh, "Your fatlier requests you to take a seat by his side." The offended 
chief drew his blanket around him, and. with an air of great dignity, said, "The Great Spirit is my 
father, and T will repose on the bosom of mv mother;" and then sat down upon the ground. 

* Page 281. ^ Note 2, page 324. ° Page 111. ' Page 408. 

* Page 412. » Page 428. ^" Page 415. " Page 412. 



1813.] THE SECOND WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 425 

a British force of twelve hundred men, who crossed on the 21st of February, 
and after a conflict of an hour, drove out the few military defenders of Ogdens- 
burg, plundered and destroyed a large amount of property, and then returned 
to Canada/ These events accelerated the gathering of the militia in that quar- 
ter. Bodies of new levies arrived, almost daily, at Sackett's Harbor, but these, 
needing discipline, were of little service, as a defense of the country between 
that point and Ogdensburg. 

Being unable to afford assistance to the exposed points in that region, Gen- 
eral Dearborn, the commander-in-chief,'^ resolved to attempt the cajjturc of 
York (now Toronto), the capital of Upper Canada, and the princi])al depository 
of British military stores for the supply of western garrisons, lie embarked 
seventeen hundred troops on board the fleet of Commodore Chaunccy.^ at Sack- 
ett's Harbor, on the 25th of Api'il ; and two days afterward [April 27J, they 
landed on the beach at York, about two miles west from the British works, in 
the face of a gallino; fire from regulars and Indians, 
under General Shcaffe. These were soon driven back to 
their fortifications, and the Americans, under General 
Pike,* pressed forward, captured two redoubts, and were 
advancing upon the main work, when the magazine of the 
fort blew up,^ hurling stones and timbers in every direc- 
tion, and producing great destruction of life among the 
assailants. General Pike was mortally wounded, but he 
lived long enough to know that the enemy had fled, and " ■ 

Of J ' GKXEKAL PIKE. 

that the American flag waved in triumph over the fort 

at York." The command then devolved on Colonel Pearce ; and at four o'clock 
in the afternoon, the town was in possession of tlie Americans. General Dear- 
born, who had remained with the fleet, landed soon after the fall of Pike, but 
did not assume the immediate command until after the surrender of the town. 

When the victory was completed, the fleet and troops returned [May 1] to 
Sackett's Harbor, but soon afterward proceeded to attack Fort George, on the 
western shore of Niagara River, near its mouth. After a brief defense [May 
27, 1813], the garrison fled to Burlington Heights, at the western extremity of 
Lake Ontario,'^ thirty-five miles distant, closely pursued by a much larger force, 




' The Americans lost, in killed and wounded, twenty men. Tlie British loss was about double 
that number. * Page 410. ' Pago 420. 

" General Dearborn had given the command of this expedition to Brigadier-General Zebulon M. 
Pike, a brave and useful officer, who had been at the head of an expedition, a few years earlier, to 
explore the country around the head waters of the Mississippi. He was born in New Jersey, in 
1779. He died on board the flag-ship of Commodore Ghauncey, with the captured British flag 
under his head, at the age of thirty-four years. In the burial-ground attached to Madison barracks, 
at Sackett's Harbor, is a dilapidated wooden monument erected over the remains of General Pike 
and some of his companions in arms. When the writer visited the spot, in 1855, it was wasting 
with decay, and falling to the earth. Such a neglect of the burial-place of the illustrious dead, is a 
disgrace to our government. 

^ The Britisii had laid a train of wet powder communicating with the magazine, for the purpose, 
and when they retreated, they fired it. 

* General Sheaffe escaped, with the principal part of the troops, but lest all his baggage, books, 
papers, and a large amount of public property. 

' At the head of Burlington Bay, in Canada. 



426 THE CONFEDERATION. [1813. 

under Generals Chandler' and Winder.' In this affair, Colonel (now Lieutenant- 
General) Scott was distinguished for his skill and bravery. On the night of 
the 6th of June, the British fell upon the American camp, at Stony Creek,' but 
were repulsed. It was very dark, and in the confusion both of the American 
generals were made prisoners. 

A British squadron appeared before Sackett's Harbor on the same day 
[May 27J that the Americans attacked Fort George : and two days afterward 
[May 29] Sir George Prevost and a thousand soldiers landed in the face of a 
severe fire from some regulars' stationed there. The regular force of the Amer- 
icans consisted of only a few seamen, a company of artillery, and about two 
hundred invalids — not more than five hundred men in all. General Jacob 
Brown, the commander at that station, rallied the militia, and their rapid 
gathering, at and near the landing-place, back of Horse Island, so alarmed 
Prevost, lest they should cut off his retreat, that he hastily re-embarked, leaving 
almost the whole of his wounded behind. Had he been aware of the condition 
of his opposers, he could have made an easy conquest of Sackett's Harbor. The 
raw militia had become panic-stricken at the first, and when Prevost retreated, 
they, too, were endeavoring to make their way to places of safety in the 
country. 

A change in the administration of military affairs occurred soon after the 
event at Sackett's Harbor. For some time, the infirmities of General Dearborn, 
the commander-in-chief,^ had disqualified him for active participation in the 
operations of the army, and in June [1813J he withdrew from the service. He 
was succeeded in command by General James Wilkinson,* who, like Dearborn, 
had been an active young ofiicer in the War for Independence. General John 
Armstrong,' then Secretary of War, had conceived another invasion of Canada, 
by the united forces of the armies of the Center and North.* For this purpose 
a little more than seven thousand men were concentrated at French Creek on 
the 5th of November, 1813, and on that morning went down the St. Lawrence 
in boats, with the intention of co-operating with about four thousand troops 
under Hampton," in an attack upon Montreal. They landed the same evening, 
a few miles abave the British fort at Prescott, opposite Ogdensburg. It being 
foggy, Wilkinson attempted to pass down the river upon the flotilla commanded 
by General Brown. The fog cleared away, and the moon revealed the Amer- 

' John Chandler was a native of Massachusetts. Some years after the war he was United 
States Senator from Maine. He died at Augusta, in that State, in 1841. "^ Page 436. 

^ In the present township of Saltfleet, Canada "West. In this affair tlie Americans lost, in kUled, 
wounded, and missing, one hundred and fifty-four. 

* Note 6, page 185. ^ Page 410. 

° James WOkinson was bom in Maryland, in 1757, and studied medicine. He joined the con- 
tinental army at Cambridge, in 1775, and continued in service during the war. He commanded 
the western division of the United States army at tlie bcginnmg of the centurj', and became some- 
what involved, as we have seen [page 396], in Burr's scheme, in 1806. He died near the city of 
Mexico, in 1825, at the age of sixty-eight years. 

' Note 4, page 349. John Armstrong was a son of Colonel John Armstrong, of Pennsylvania 
[page 191], and was born at Carlisle, in that State, in 1758. He served in the War of the Revolu- 
tion ; was Secretary of the State of Pennsylvania ; minister to France in 1804; Secretary of War 
in 1813 ; and died in Dutchess county, New York, in 1843. ® Note 3, page 412. 

" Page 410. 



1813.] THE SECOND WAR FOR INDET END E NCE. 427 

icans to the garrison of the fort. The latter immediately opened a heavy fire, 
and being thus annoyed by the enemy on shore, and by gun-boats' in his rear, 
Wilkinson landed Brown and a strong detaclmient to go forward and disperse 
quite a large force near Williamsburg, and to cover the descent of the boats. 
A severe battle ensued [November 11] in which the Americans lost more than 
three Imndred men in killed and wounded, and tlie British about two hundred. 
This is known as the battle of Chrysler's Field. ^JMie locality is on the northern 
shore of the St. Lawrence, a little more than thirty miles below Ogdensburg, 
and about ninety above INIontreal. 

General Wilkinson arrived at St. Regis' the next day, witli the main l)ody, 
when he was informed that no troops from the army of the North would join 
him.' He therefore abandoned the expedition against Montreal, and went 
into winter quarters at French INIills (noAV Fort Covington, in St. Lawrence 
county), about nine miles east of St. Regis. A little later, some stirring events 
occurred on the Niagara frontier. General INI'Clure, commander at Fort 
George, ■" l)urnt the Canadian village of Newark on the 10th of December. 
Two days later [December 12, 1813] he was 
compelled by the British to abandon Fort 
George. A strono; force of British and Indians 
then surprised and captured [December 10] 
Fort Niascara, on the east side of the Niagara 

River, near its mouth;" and in retaliation for ^q^^ niagaua 1;i:;. 

the burning of Newark, they laid Youngstown, 

Lewiston, Manchester (now Niagara Falls), and the Tuscarora Indian village, 
in Niagara countv. in ashes. On the 30th, the little villages of Black Rock 
and Buffalo^ were also consumed, and a large amount of public and ]3rivate 
propert}'- was destroyed. With these events ended the campaign of 1813, in 
the North. 

Affairs in the extreme South assumed a serious aspect during the summer 
of 1813. In the spring of that year, Tecumseh (who was slain on the Th;imes 
a few months later)' Avent among the Southern tribes, to arouse them to wage 
war upon the white people. The powerful Creeks" yielded to his persuasions ; 
and late in August [30th], a large party of them surprised and captured Fort 
Mimms, on the Alabama River," and massaci-ed almost three hundred men, 




j- 



' Page 401. 

* This is an old French and Indian settlement on the St. Lawrence, at the mouth of the St. 
Regis River, about fifty miles below Ogdensburg. The dividing line (45th degree) between the 
United States and Canada, ])asses through the center of the village. 

* There was an enmity between Wilkinson and Hampton, and Armstrong resolved to command 
the expedition lumself, to prevent trouble on account of precedence. He joined the army at 
Sackett's Harbor, but soon returned to Washington, for lie and Wilkinson could not agree. To tho 
jealousies and bickerings of these old officers, must the disasters of tho land troops be, In a great 
degri>e. attributed. General Hampton did move forward toward Canada, but finally fell back to 
Plattsburg, and leaving the conmiand with General Izard, returned to South Carolina. He died at 
Colunibin, South Carolina, in 1835, aged eighty-one years. * Page 414. ° Page 200. 

° Buffido was then a small village, containing about fifteen hundred inhabitants, and was utterly 
destroyed. It is now [185G] one of the stateliest commercial cities on the continent, with a popu- 
lation of not much less than one hundred thousand. ' Page 424. * Page 30. 

* On the east side of the Alabama, about ten miles above its junction \dth the Tombigbee. 



428 THE CONFEDERATION. [1813. 

women, and children. This event aroused the whole South. General Andrew 
Jackson,' accompanied by General Cofifee, marched into the Creek country, with 
twenty-five hundred Tennessee militia, and prosecuted a subjugating war against 
them, with great vigor. 

On the 3d of November, General Cofiee,'^ Avith nine hundred men, sur- 
rounded an Indian force at Tallushatchee,^ and killed two hundred of them. 
Not a warrior escaped. Within ten weeks afterward, bloody battles had been 
fought at Talladega' [November 8], Autossee' [November 29], and Emucfau' 
[January 22d, 1814], and several skirmishes had also taken place. The 
Americans were always victorious, yet they lost many brave soldiers. At 
length the Creeks estabhshed a fortified camp at the Great Horseshoe Bend of 
the Tallapoosa River,' and there a thousand warriors, with their women and 
children, determined to make a last defensive stand. The Americans sur- 
rounded them, and Jackson, with the main body of his army, attacked them on 
the 27th of INIarch, 1814. The Indians fought desperately, for they saw no 
future for themselves, in the event of defeat. iVlmost six hundred Avarriors 
were slain, for they disdained to surrender. Only two or three were made 
prisoners, Avith about three hundred Avomen and children. This battle crushed 
the poAver and spirit of the Creek nation, and soon afterward the chiefs of the 
remnant signified their submission.'' It was a sad scene to the eyes of the 
benevolent and good, to see these ancient tribes of our land, Avho were then 
making rapid strides in the progress of civilization, so utterly ruined by the 
destroying hand of Avar. They found that tn'tyht made right, in the vicAV of 
their subjugators, and they Avere compelled to make a treaty of peace upon the 
terms dictated l)y their conquerors. Thus, time after time since the advent of 
the Avhite people here, haA^e the hands of the stronger been laid upon the Aveaker, 
until noAv nothing but remnants of once powerful nations remain. 

The naval operations upon the ocean, during the year 1813, Avere very im- 
portant. Many and severe conflicts between public and priA-ate armed A'essels 
of the United States and Great Britain, occurred ; and at the close of the year, 
the balance-sheet of victories showed a preponderance in favor of the former." 
Toward the end of February, the United States sloop of Avar Hornet, Cap- 

^ Page 460. 

^ Joim Coflee was a native of Tirginia. He did good service during the second TV ar for Inde- 
pendence, and in subsequent campaigns. He died in 183-i. 

^ Soutli side of Tallushatchee Creek, near the village of Jacksonville, in Benton couut\-, Ala- 
bama. 

^ A little east of the Coosa River, in the present Talladega countj-. 

^ On the bank of the Tallapoosa, twenty miles from its junction with the Coosa, in Jfacon 
county. 

^ On the west bank of the Tallapoosa, at the mouth of Emucfau Creek, in Tallapoosa county. 

' Called Tohopeka by the Indians. Near the north-east corner of Tallapoosa count}'. 

* Among those who bowed in submission was Weathersford, their greatest leader. He appeared 
suddenly before Jackson, in his tent, and standing erect, he said: "I am in your power; do with 
me what you please. I have done the white people all the harm I could. I have fought them, 
and fought them bravely. My warriors are all gone now, and I can do no more. When there was 
a chance for success, I never asked for peace. There is none now, and I ask it for the remnant of 
my nation." 

^ More than seven hundred British vessels were taken by the American navy and privateers, 
during the vears 1812 and 1813. 



1813.] THE SECOND "WAR i'OR INDEPENDENCE. 429 

tain Lawrence, fought [Feb. 24, 1813] the British brig Peacock^ off the 
mouth of Demarara River, South America. Tlie Peacock surrendered, after a 
fierce conflict of fifteen minutes, and a few moments afterward she sunk, carry- 
inor down with her nine British seamen and three Americans. The loss of tlio 
Peacock, in killed and wounded, was thirty-seven ; of the Hornet only five. 
The generous conduct of Captain Lawrence, toward his enemy on this occasion, 
drew from the officers of the Peacock, on their arrival in New York, a public 
letter of thanks.' This, of itself, was a wreath of honor for the victor, more 
glorious than his trium})h in the sanguinary conflict. 

On his return to the United States, Captain Lawrence was promoted to the 
command of the frigate Chesapeake ; and on the 1st 
of June, 1813, he sailed from Boston harbor, in search 
of the British frigate, Shannon, which had recently 
appeared off' the New England coast, and challenged 
any vessel, of equal size, to meet her. Lawrence 
found the boaster the same day, about thirty miles 
from Boston light; and at five in the afternoon, a 
furious action began. The two vessels soon became 
entangled. Then the Britons boarded the Chesapeake. 
and after a desperate hand-to-hand struggle, hoisted * '^ '^ "'' "^ i^xcE. 
the British flag. Lawrence was mortally wounded at the beginning of the 
action ; and Avhen he was carried below, he uttered those brave words of com- 
mand, which Perry afterward displayed on his flag-ship on Lake Erie, '• Dont 
give up the ship .'" The combat lasted only fifteen minutes ; but in that time, 
the Chesapeake had forty-eight killed and ninety-eight wounded: the Shannon 
twenty-three killed, and fifty-six wounded. The body of Lawrence," with that 
of Ludlow, the second in command, was carried to Halifiix, in the victorious 
Shannon, and there buried with the honors of war. This event caused great 
sadness in America, and unbounded joy in England.' 

Another disaster followed the loss of the Chesapeake. It was the capture 
of the American brig Argns, Captain Allen, in August. The Argus, in the 
spring [1813], had conveyed Mr. Crawford, United States minister, to France, 
and for two months had greatly annoyed British shipping in the English Chan- 




* They said, " So much was done to alleviate the uncomfortable and distressing situation in 
which we were placed, when received on board the ship you command, that we can not better 
express our feelings than by saying, we ceased to consider ourselves prisoners ; and every thing 
that friendship could dictate, was adopted by you and the officers of the Hornet, to remedy tho 
inconvenience we otherwise should have experienced, from the unavoidable loss of tlie whole of 
our property and clothes, by tlie sudden sinking of the Peacock." The crew of the Hornet divided 
their c!o!hing with the prisoners. 

^ Captain James Lawrence was a native of New Jersey, and received a midshipman's warrant 
at the age of sixteen years. He was with Decatur at Tripoli [page :?92]. He died four days after 
receiving the wound, at the age of thirt\'-one years. A beautiful monument, in the form of a trun- 
cated column and pedestal, was erected to his memory in Trinity churcn-yard. New York. This, in 
time, became dilapidated, and a few years since, a new one, of another form, was erected near the 
south entrance to the church, a few feet from Broadway. 

' A writer of the time observed: "Never did any victory — not those of "Wellington in Spain, 
nor even those of Nelson — call forth such expressions of joy on the part of the British ; a proof 
that our naval character had risen somewhat in their estimation." 



430 THE CONFEDERATION. [1813. 

nel. Several vessels were sent out to capture her ; and on the 14th of August, 
the sloop of war' Pelican^ after a brief, but severe action, defeated the Argus. 
In less than a month afterward [Sept. 10], Perry gained his great victory on 
Lake Eric ;' and the British brig Boxer, Captain Blythe, had surrendered 
[Sept. 5, 1813], to the United States brig Enterprise, Lieutenant Burrows, 
after an engagement of forty minutes, off the coast of Maine. Blythe and Bur- 
rows, young men of great promise, were both slain during the action, and their 
bodies Avere buried in one grave at Portland, with military honors. 

A distressing warfare upon the coast between Delaware Bay and Charleston, 
was carried on during the spring and summer of 1813, by a small British 
squadron under the general command of Admiral Cockburn. His chief object 
was to draw the American troops from the northern frontier to the defense of 
the seaboard, and thus lessen the danger that hung over Canada. It was a sort 
of amphibious Avarfare — on land and water — and was marked by many acts of 
unnecessary cruelty. The British had talked of " chastising the Americans 
into submission," and the method now employed was the instrument. On the 
4th of February, 1813, two ships of the line, three frigates, and other British 
vessels, made their appearance at the capes of Virginia.^ At about the same 
time, another British squadron entered the Delaware River, destroyed the 
American shipping there in March, and in April cannonaded the town of 
Lewiston. In May, Frenchtown, Havre de Grace, Georgetown, and Frederick- 
town, on the Chesapeake, were plundered and burned ; and then the combined 
British fleet entered Hampton Roads,^ and menaced Norfolk. While attempt- 
ing to go up to that city, the enemy were nobly repulsed [Jan. 22, 1813] by 
the Americans upon Craney Island,^ under the command of Major Faulkner, 
assisted by naval officers. The British then fell upon Hampton [Jan. 25] ; and 
having surfeited themselves with plunder, withdrew. Cockburn*^ sailed down 
the North Carolina coast, marauding whenever opportunity offered,' and carried 
away a large number of negroes and sold them in the West Indies. In pleas- 
ant contrast to this, was the deportment of Commodore Hardy, whose squadron 
was employed during the same season, in blockading the New England coast. 
Although he landed upon our shores frequently, yet his conduct was always 
that of a high-minded gentleman and generous enemy." 

During the year 1813, the United States frigate Essex, Captain Porter, 
made a long and successful cruise in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It oc- 
cupied the time from April until October. The Essex carried at her mast- 
head the popular motto, '■'■Free Trade and Sailor^ s Rights f and, while in 

' Page 415. ■ " Page 423. = Page 64. * Note 3, page 297. 

^ Craney Island is low and bare, and lies at tlie mouth of the Elizabeth River, about five miles 
below Norfolk. At the time in question, there were some unfinished fortifications upon it, remains 
of which may yet [185G] be seen. 

^ Cockburn died in England in 1853, at an advanced age. 

'' Congress had passed an act, offering a reward of half their value for the destruction of British 

ships, by other means than those of tlie armed vessels of the United States. This was to encourage 

the use of torpedoes. The cruel forays upon the southern coasts seemed to warrant this species 

of dishonorable warfare. It was employed against Hardy's squadron. He was justly indignant, 

, and protested against it as unmanly. 



1814.] THE SECOND "WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 4^] 

the Pacific, she captured twelve British whale-ships, with an aggregate of 
three hundred and two men, and one hundred and seven guns. The Essex 
was finally captured in the harbor of Valparaiso [March, 
28, 1814], on the western coast of South America, by 
the British frigate Phwbc, and sloop of war Cherub, 
after one of the most desperately fought battles of the 
war. It is said that thousands of the inhabitants of 
Valparaiso covered the neighboring heights as spectators 
of the conflict. Perceiving the overpowering advantage 
of the British, their sympathies were strongly elicited 
in favor of the Essex. When any thing in her favor 
appeared, loud shouts went up from the multitude ; and 
when she was finally disabled and lost, they expressed commodoke ported. 
their feelings in groans and tears. The Essex lost one hundred and fifty- 
four, in killed and wounded. Captain Porter' wrote to the Secretary of the 
Navy, '' We have been unfortunate, but not disgraced." 




CHAPTER VI. 

SECOND WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE, CONTINUED. [1814, 1815.] 

During the year 1814, the war was prosecuted by both parties with more 
zeal and vigor than hitherto. The means for supporting it were much aug- 
mented by the government of the United States, notwithstanding the public 
credit was much depreciated, and treasury notes fell as low as seventeen per 
cent, below par. At the same time. Great Britain seemed to put forth increased 
energy, and her vessels of war hovered along our entire coast, and kept the sea- 
port towns in a state of continual alarm. Early in that year, the victorious 
career of Napoleon, in Europe, was checked by the allied powers. Almost all 
of the governments of continental Europe, with that of England, had combined 
to crush him, and sustain the sinking Bourbon dynasty. Their armies were 
allied in a common cause. These, approaching from different directions, reached 
Paris, at the close of March, 1814, when the Russian and Prussian emperors 
entered the city.^ Hoping to secure the crown to his son. Napoleon abdicated 
in his favor on the 4th of April, and retired to Elba. Peace for Europe 

' Commodore David Porter was among the most distinguished of the American naval com- 
manders. He was a resident minister of the United States in Turkey, and died, near Constantin- 
ople, in March, 1843. 

" Russians, one hundred and fifty thousand strong, advanced from Switzerland; Blucher led 
one hundred and thirty thousand Prussians from Germany ; Bemadotte, the old companion-in-arms 
of Napoleon, was at the head of one hundred thousand Swedes, and marched through Holland ; and 
the English, in great power, advanced from Spain, under "Wellington. A battle at Montmartre left 
Paris exposed to the enemy, and Alexander and Frederic took possession of the capital on the Slst 
of March. 




_|32 THE CONFEDERATION. [1814. 

seemed certain. British troops were withdrawn from the continent, and early 
in the summer of 1814, fourteen thousand of Wellington's veterans were sent 
to Canada' to operate against the United States. Considering the moral and 
material weakness of the American army, hitherto, the circumstance of the 
continual employment of the British troops on the continent, was highly favor- 
able to the United States. Had Europe been at peace, the result of this second 
War for Independence might have been quite different. 

The favorite ])roject of the public authorities continued to be the invasion of 
Canada ■" and to oppose it, was the chief solicitude of the British officers on 
our northern frontiers. The principal force of the enemy in Upper Canada, 
was placed under the chief command of Lieutenant-General Drummond, late in 
the season ; while the American army on the Niagara 
frontier was commanded by General Brown, at the 
same time. General Wilkinson was still in the 
vicinity of the St. Lawrence, and toward the close of 
February, he broke up his camp at French Mills," and 
retired to Plattsburg ; Avhile General Brown, with two 
■^^^ ^^sm^^- "J thousand men, marched to Sackett's Harbor, prepara- 

tory to his departure for the Niagara. Late in March, 
Wilkinson proceeded to erect a battery at Rouse's 
Point, at the foot of Lake Champlain; and at La 
GENERAL BROWN Collc, threc milcs below, he had an unsuccessful 

engagement [March 30] with the British. The disas- 
trous result of this affair brought Wilkinson into disrepute, and he was tried by 
a court-martial, but acquitted of all charges alleged against him. He had been 
suspended from all command, in the mean while, and the charge of the troops 
was given to General Izard. 

Preparations had been making on Lake Ontario, during the winter and 
spring, by both parties, to secure the control of that inland sea. Sir James 
Yeo was in command of a small British squadron, and on the 5th of May 
[1814],' he appeared before Oswego, accompanied by about three thousand land 
troops and marines.^ Oswego was then defended by only about three hundred 
troops under Colonel Mitchell, and a small flotilla under Captain Woolsey. 
The chief object of the expedition was to capture or destroy a large quantity of 
naval and military stores, deposited at Oswego Falls, ^ but the gallant band of 
Americans at the harbor defeated the project. They withstood an attack, by 
land and water, for almost two days, before they yielded to a superior force. 
Afraid to penetrate the country toward the Falls, in the face of such deter- 
mined opponents, the British withdrew on the morning of the 7th [May, 1814], 

^ These were embarked at Bonrdeaux, in France, and sailed directly for the St. Lawrence, 
without even touching the shores of England. 

" Page 410. ' Page 427. 

* The fort on the east side of the river was then in quite a dilapidated state, and formed but a 
feeble defense for the troops. It was strengthened after this attack. 

' At the present village of Fulton, on the east side of Oswego River, and about twelve miles 
fiom the harbor. 



1815.] THE SECOND WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 433 

after losing two hundred and thirtj-fivc men, in killed and -wounded. The 
Americans lost sixtj-nine. 

Toward the close of June, General Brown marched from Sackett's Harbor' 
to the Niagara frontier ; and on the morning of the 3d of July, Generals Scott 
and Ripley' crossed the river, with a considerable force, and captured Fort 
Erie, which was situated on the Canada side of the Niagara River, nearly 
opposite Black Rock. The garrison withdrew to the intrenched camp of the 
British General Riall, then at Chippewa,' a few miles below. On the morning 
of the 4th [July, 1814], Brown advanced, and on the 5th the two armies had a 
sanguinary battle in the open fields at Chippewa. The British were repulsed, 
with a loss of about five hundred men, and retreated to Burlington Heights,* 
where they were reinforced by troops under General Drummond, who assumed 
the chief command in person. The Americans lost a little more than three 
hundred. 

General Drummond was mortified by this discomfiture of his veteran troops 
hj what he considered raw Americans, and he resolved to wipe out the stain. 
Collecting every regiment from Burlington and York, with some from Kingston 
and Prescott, he prepared for a renewal of combat. "With a force about one 
third greater than that of Brown, ^ he immediately advanced to meet the Amer- 
icans. The latter had encamped at Bridgewater, near Niagara Falls ; and 
there, at the close of a sultry day, and within the sound of the great cataract's 
thunder, one of the most destructive battles of the war began. ° It commenced 
at sunset and ended at midnight [July 25, 1814], when the Americans had 
lost eight hundred and fifty-eight men in killed and wounded, and the British 
twenty more than that. The Americans were left in quiet possession of the 
field, but were unable to carry away the heavy artillery which they had cap- 
tured.' Brown and Scott being wounded,^ the command devolved on Ripley, 
and the following day [July 26] he withdrew to Fort Erie, where General 
Gaines,' a senior officer, who arrived soon afterward, assumed the chief com- 
mand. 

Having recovered from his wound, Drummond again advanced, with five 

' Pasre 432. 

* Winfleld Soott, now [1856] Lieutenant-General, and commander-in-chief of the army of the 
United States. 839 page 485. General James Ripley remained in the army after the war, and 
died on the '2d of Marcii, 1839. 

^ Oa the Canada shore, about two miles above Niagara Falls. ■* Page 425. 

^ Jacob Brown was born in Pennsylvania, in 1775. 'He engaged in his country's service in 
1813. and soon became distinguished. He was made Major-Gencral in 1814. He was commander- 
in-chief of the United States army in 1821, and held that rank and office when he died, in 1828. 

° Th3 hottest of the tight was in and near an obscure road known as Lundy's Lane. This battlo 
is Icnown by the respective names of Bridgeivater, Lundy's Lane, and Kia'jara Falls. 

' After tlie Americans had witlidrawn. a party of tlie British returned and carried off their 
artillery. This event was so magnified, in the English accounts of the battle, as to make the victory 
to appear on tlio side of the British. 

* The British Generals Drunnnond and Riall were also wounded. General Scott led the advance 
in the engagement, and for an hour maintained a most desperate conflict, when he was reinforced. 
It was quite dark, and General Riall and his suite were made prisoners by the gallant Major Jcsup. 
A British battery upon an eminence did terrible execution, for it swept the whole field. This was 
assailed and captured by a party under Colonel Miller, who replied, when asked by General Brown 
if he could accomplish it, "I'll try, sir." Three times the British attempted to recapture this bat- 
tery. In the last attempt, Drummond was wounded. " Page 398. 

28 



M fuSCARORA 

J) ,, VlLLOK 




434 THE CONFEDERATION. [1814. 

tliousand men, and on the 4th of August appeared before Fort Erie, and com- 
menced preparations for a siege. From the 7th until the 
14th, there was an ahnost incessant cannonade between 
the besiegers and the besieged. On the 15th, Drummond 
made a furious assault, but was repulsed, with a loss of 
almost a thousand men. Very little was done hy either 
party for nearly a month after this affair, when General 
Brown, who had assumed command again, ordered a sor- 
tie [Sept. 17] from the fort. It was successful ; and the 
Americans pressed forward, destroyed the advanced works 
of the besiegers, and drove them toward Chippewa. In- 
yiAGAEA FRONTIER. formcd, soon afterward, that General Izard was approach- 
ing,' with reinforcements for Brown, Drummond retired 
to Fort George.^ The Americans abandoned and destroyed Fort Erie in No- 
veni'jer (November 5], and, crossing the river, went into winter-quarters at 
Buffalo, Black Kock, and Batavia. 

Let us consider the military operations in northern New York, for a mo- 
ment. Very little of interest transpired in the vicinity of Lake Champlain 
until toward the close of summer, when General Izard' marched [August, 
1814] from Plattsburg, with five thousand men, to reinforce General Brown on 
the Niagara frontier, leaving General Macomb* in command, with only fifteen 
hundred men. Taking advantage of this circumstance, General Prevost, who 
led an army of fourteen thousand men, chiefly Wellington's veterans, to the 
invasion of the United States, marched for Plattsburg. During the spring and 
summer, the British and Americans had each constructed a small fleet on Lake 
Champlain, and those were now ready for operations ; the former under Com- 
modore Downie, and the latter under Commodore Macdonough.^ 

General Provost arrived near Plattsburg on the 6th of September, when 

' Note 3, page 427. "^ Page 425. 

' George Izard was bora in South Carolina, in 1777, and made military life his profession. 
After the war he left the army. He was governor of Arkansas Territory ia 1825, and died at 
Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1828. 

* Alexander Macomb was bom in the fort in Detroit, in 1782, and entered the army at the age 
of seventeen years. He was made a brigadier in 1814. In 1835, he was commander-in-chief of 
the armies of the United States, and died in 1841. 

^ Thomas Macdonough was a native of Delaware. He was twenty-eight years of age at the 
time of the engagement at Plattsburg. The State of New Tork gave him one thousand acres of 
land on Plattsburg Bay, for his services. He died in 1825, at the age of thirty-nine years. Mac- 
donough was always remarkable for cool courage. On one occasion, while first lieutenant of a 
vessel l_ying in the harbor of Gibraltar, an armed boat from a British man-of-war iDoarded an Amer- 
ican brig anchored near, in the absence of the commander, and carried off a seaman. See page 
401. Macdonough manned a gig, and with an inferior force, made chase and recaptured the 
seaman. The captain of the man-of-war came aboard Macdonough's vessel, and, in a great rage, 
asked liim how he dared to take the man from his majesty's Ijoat. " He was an American seaman, 
and I did my duty," was the reply. "I'll bring my ship alongside, and sink you," angrily cried 
the Briton. "That you can do," coolly responded Macdonough ; "but while she swims, that man 
you will not have." The captain, roaring with rage, said, "Supposing / had been in the boat, 
would you have dared to commit such an act?" "I should have made the attempt, sir," was the 
calm reply. "What!" shouted the captain, "if I were to impress men fi'om that brig, would you 
interfere?" "You have only to try it, sir," was Maedonougii's tantahzing reply. The hauglity 
Briton was over-matched, and he did not attempt to try the metal of such a brave young mnn. 
There were cannon-baUs in his coohicss, full of danger. 



1815.] 



THE SECOND WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 



435 



Macomb's little army, and quite a large body of militia under General Mooers, 
retired to the south side of the Saranac, and prepared to dispute its passage by 
the invaders. On the morning of the 11th, the British fleet came around 
Cumberland Head, with a fair wind, and attacked Macdonough's squadron hi 
Plattsburg Bay.^ At the same time, the British land troops opened a heavy 
cannonade upon the Americans. After a severe engagement of two hours and 





r^ 



V55fc 




twenty minutes, Macdonough became victor, and the whole British fleet was 
surrendered to him.^ The land forces fought until dark, and every attempt of 
the British to cross the Saranac was bravely resisted. During the evening, 
Prevost hastily retreated, leaving his sick and wounded, and a large quantity 
of military stores, behind him. The British loss, in killed, wounded, and de- 
serted, from the 6th to the 11th, was about twenty-five hundred ; that of the 
Americans, only one hundred and twenty-one. The victory was applauded with 
the greatest enthusiasm throughout the land, and gave emphasis to the effect 
of another at Baltimore, which had been recently achieved. 

* "When the British squadron appeared off Cumberland Head, Macdonough knelt on the deck of 
the Saratoga (his flag-ship), in the midst of his men. and prayed to the God of Battles for aid. A 
curious incident occurred during the engagement that soon followed. A British ball demolished r. 
hen-coop on board the Saratoga. A cock, released from his prison, flew into the rigging, and 
crowed lustUy, at the same time flapping his wings with triumphant vehemence. The seamen re- 
garded the event as a good omen, and they fought like tic-ers, while the cock cheered them on with 
his Growings, until the British flag was struck and the firing, ceased. 

* The Americans lost, in killed and wounded, one hundred and sixteen ; the British one hun- 
dred and ninety-four. Among them was Commodore Downie. whose remains lio imder a moEU- 
ment at Plattsburg. 



436 THE CONFEDERATION. [1814. 

So wide was the theater of war, that in our rapid view of it, the shifting 
scenes carry us alternately from the northern frontier to the western and south- 
ern borders, and then upon the Atlantic and its coasts. The latter were expe- 
riencino- much trouble, while the whole frontier from the Niagara to the St. 
Lawrence was in commotion. The principal ports from New York to Maine 
were blockaded by British war-vessels ; and early in the spring, a depredating 
warfare af^ain' commenced on the shores of the Chesapeake. These were but 
feebly defended by a small flotilla,'^ under the veteran, Commodore Barney f and 
when, about the middle of August, a British squadron, of almost sixty sail, 
arrived in the bay, with six thousand troops, under General Ross, destined for 
the capture of Washington city, it proved of little value. Ross landed [Aug. 
19, 1814] at Benedict, on the Patuxent (about twenty-five miles from its 
mouth), with five thousand men, and marched toward Washington city.^ Bar- 
ney's flotilla, lying higher up the stream, was abandoned and burned, and his 
marines joined the gathering land forces, under General Winder. Ross was 
one of Wellington's most active commanders, and Winder had only three thou- 
sand troops to oppose him, one half of whom were undisciplined militia. A 
sharp engagement took place [Aug. 24] at Bladensburg,^ a few miles from 
Washington city, when the militia fled, and Barney, fighting gallantly at the 
head of his seamen and marines, was made prisoner.* Ross pushed forward to 
Washington city the same day, burned the capitol. President's house, and 
other public and private buildings [August 24], and then hastily retreated 
[August 25] to his shipping.' 

The British ministry were greatly elated by the destruction of the public 
buildings and property at Washington, but their jubilant feelings were not 
shared by the best of the English people at large. The act was denounced, in 
severe terms, on the floor of the British House of Commons ; and throughout 
civilized Europe, it was considered a disgrace to the perpetrators and abettors. 
General Ross, however, seemed to glory in it as heartily as did the marauder, 
Cockburn ; and, flushed with success, he proceeded to attack Baltimore, w here 
the veteran. General Smith ^ was in command. That ofiicer, in connection with 



^ Page 430. 

^ It consisted of a cutter (a vessel with one mast), two gun-boats [page 401], and nine barges, 
•or boats propelled by oars. 

^ He was born in Baltimore in 1759. He entered the naval service of the Revolution in 1775, 
and was active during the whole war. He bore the American flag to the French National Con- 
vention in 1796, and entered the French ser\'iee. He returned to America in 1800, took part in 
the War of 1812, and died at Pittsburg in 1818. 

* Another small squadren was sent up the Potomac, but effected little else than plunder. 
' Note 1, page 392. 

* Until the latest moment, it was not known whether "Washington or Baltimore was to be at- 
tacked. Winder's troops, employed for the defense of both cities, were divided. The loss of the 
British, in killed, wounded, and by desertion, was almost a thousand men ; that of the Americans 
was about a hundred killed and wounded, and a hundred and twenty taken prisoners. The Pres- 
ident and his Cabinet were at Bladensburg when the British approached, but returned to the city 
when the conflict began, and narrowly escaped capture. 

' Washington then contained about nine hvmdred houses, scattered, in groups, over a surface 
of three miles. The Great Bridge across the Potomac was also burnt. The light of tho conflagra- 
tion was distinctly seen at Baltimore, forty miles distant. 

* Samuel Smith, the brave commander of Fort Mifflin [page 275] in 1777. He was bom in 



1815.] THE SECOND WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 437 

General Strieker, rallied the militia of the city and vicinity, and soon almost fif- 
teen thousand men were under arms, to defend the town. Ross landed [Sept. 12, 
1814], with almost eight thousand troops, at North Point, fourteen miles from 
the city, while a i)ortion of the fleet went up the Patapsco to bombard Fort 
M 'Henry. He immediately pressed forward, but was soon met hy the advanced 
corps of General Strieker, and a slight skirmish ensued. Ross was killed, and 
the command devolved on Colonel Brooke, who continued to advance. A severe 
battle now commenced, which continued an hour and a quarter, when the 
Americans fell back, in good order, toward the city. In this engagement the 
British lost about three hundred men ; the Americans, one hundred and sixty- 
three. Both parties slept on their arms that night ; and the following morn- 
ing [Sept. 13], the British advanced, as if to attack the city. The fleet, in the 
mean while, had opened its bombs and cannons upon the fort, whose garrison, 
under Major Armistcad, made a most gallant defense. The bombardment con- 
tinued most of the day and night, and no less than fifteen hundred bombshells 
were thrown. The people in the city feb in immediate danger of an attack 
from the land troops ; but toward the morning of the 14th, these silently em- 
barked, and the disheartened and discomfited enemy withdrew.* This defense 
was hailed as an important victory.^ 

The whole Atlantic coast, eastward from Sandy Hook,' was greatly annoyed 
by small British squadrons, during the summer of 1814. These captured 
many American coasting vessels, and sometimes menaced towns with bombard- 
ment. Finally, in August, Commodore Hardy' appeared before Stonington, 
and opened a terrible storm of bombshells and rockets' upon the town. The 
attack continued four successive days [August 9-12], and several times land 
forces attempted to debark, but were always driven back by the militia. The 
object of this unprovoked attack seems to have been, to entice the American 
forces from New London, so that British shipping might go up the Thames, 
and destroy some American frigates, then near Norwich. The expedient sig- 
nally failed, and no further attempt of a similar kind was made on the Comiecti- 
cut coast. 

Further eastward, that part of Maine which lies between the Penobscot 
River and Passamaquoddy Bay, became a scene of stirring events. On the first 



Pennsylvania in 1752; entered the revolutionary army in 1776 ; afterward represented Baltimore 
in Congress many years; and died in April 1839. 

» General Smith estimated the entire loss of the British, m their attack upon Baltimore, at 
"between six and seven lumdred." 

* An event, connected witli this attack on Baltimore, was the origin of the stirring song, JTie 
Star-Spangkd Banner, which was written by Francis S. Key, of that city, to the air of " Anacreon 
in Heaven." A gentleman left Baltimore with a flag of truce, to attempt the release of a friend on 
board the Britisli fleet. He was not aUowed to return, lest he should disclose the intended attack 
on tlie citv. From a British vessel he was compelled to see the bombardment of Fort M'llenry. 
He watciiod the American flag over the fort, all day, with great anxiety. The darkness of the 
niglit liid it from view. With eager eyes, he looked in that direction at dawn, and, to hid great 
jov, he saw the star-spangled banner yet waving over the ramparts. 
" ' Page 289. * Page 430. 

" Rockets used for setting fire to towns and shipping, are made similar to the common " sky- 
rockets," but filled with inflammable substances, which are scattered over buildings and the nggmg 
of ships. 



438 THE CONFEDERATION. [1814. 

of September [1814], the governor of Nova Scotia and Admiral Griffith 
entered the Penobscot River, seized the town of Castine, and, by proclamation, 
took possession of the country, then inhabited by about thirty thousand people. 
A few days afterward, the United States frigate John Adams entered the 
Penobscot after a successful cruise, and ran upon the rocks. While having 
her injuries repaired, she was attacked by several of the British sailing vessels 
and barges, manned by about a thousand men. Finding resistance to be vain, 
Captain Morris, her commander, fired her magazine, and blew her up. 

Difficulties again appeared in the south-west. We have already considered 
Jackson's successful warfare upon the Creek Indians.' In the course of the 
summer of 1814, he wrung from them a treaty, which completed their downfall, 
as a nation, and the war at the South was considered ended. They agreed to 
surrender a large portion of their beautiful and fertile country, as indemnity 
for the expenses of the war ; to allow the United States to make roads through 
the remainder ; and also not to hold intercourse with any British or Spanish 
posts. But the common enemy, favored by the Spaniards at Pensacola, soon 
appeared, and the Creeks again lifted their heads in hope, for a moment. A 
British squadron, cruising in the Gulf of Mexico, took possession of the forts 
at Pensacola, by permission of the Spanish authorities, and there fitted out an 
expedition against Fort Bower (now Fort Morgan), at the entrance to Mobile 
Bay,'' then commanded by Major Lawrence. General Jackson then had his 
head-quarters at Mobile. The enemy appeared off Mobile Point on the 15th 
of September, and commenced the attack, by land and water, at about four 
o'clock in the afternoon. Fort Bower was garrisoned by resolute men, and was 
armed with twenty pieces of cannon. Lawrence and his little band made a 
gallant defense ; and soon the British were repulsed, with the loss of a ship 
of war and many men. Among the British land troops on the occasion, were 
two hundred Creek warriors. 

Jackson, now a Major-General in the army, and commander of the south- 
western military district, assuming all the authority he was entitled to, held 
the Spanish governor of Florida responsible for the act of giving shelter to the 
enemies of the United States. Failing to obtain any satisfactory guaranty for 
the future, he marched from Mobile with about two thousand Tennessee militia 
and some Choctaw warriors, against Pensacola. On the 7th of November 
[1814] he stormed the tow^n, drove the British to their shipping, and finally 
from the harbor, and made the governor beg for mercy, and surrender Pensa- 
cola and all its military works, unconditionally. The British fleet disappeared 
the next day [November 8], and the victor retraced his steps [November 9]. 
His return was timely, for he was needed where extreme danger was menacing 
the whole southern country. On his arrival at Mobile, he found messages from 
New Orleans, besraino; his immediate march thither, for the British in the Gulf 
of Mexico, reinforced by thousands of troops from England, were about to 
invade Louisiana. Jackson instantly obeyed the summons, and arrived there 



Page 427. ''On the east side, about thirty miles south from Mobile. 



1815.] THE SECOND WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 439 

on the 2d of December. He found the people of New Orleans in the greatest 
alarm, but his presence soon restored quiet and confidence. By vigorous, and 
even rigorous measures (for he declared martial law),' he soon placed the city 
in a state of comparative security," and when the British squadron, bearing 
General Packenham and about twelve thousand troops, many of them Welling- 
ton's veterans, entered Lake Borgne, he felt confident of success, even against 
such fearful odds. 

On the 14th of December, a British fleet of barges, about forty in number, 
and conveying twelve hundred men, captured a flotilla of five American gun- 
boats, in Lake Borgne, which were under the command of Lieutenant (late Com- 
modore) Thomas Ap Catesby Jones. In the engagement the Americans lost, 
in killed and wounded, about forty ; the British loss was about three hundred. 
The destruction of these gun-boats gave the enemy power to choose his point of 
attack ; and eight days afterward [Dec. 22], about twenty-four hundred of the 
British, under General Keane, reached the Mississippi, nine miles below New 
Orleans. An American detachment, led by Jackson in person, fell upon their 
camp the following night [Dec. 23, 1814], but withdrew to a stronger position, 
after killing; or woundinj; four hundred of the British. The Americans lost 
about one hundred. 

And now preparations were instantly made for the great battle which soon 
afterward ensued. Jackson concentrated his troops (about three thousand in 
number, and mostly militia) within a line of intrenchments' cast up four miles 
below the city of New Orleans, where they were twice cannonaded by the Brit- 
ish, but without much effect. Finally, on the morning of the 8th of January, 
1815, General Paekenham, the Brit- 
ish commander-in-chief, advanced with 1] ^ICavalrv":" ^s*i^::^s-=i~^s^^7^1 

. 11 ''I'l -M-4n . Am. Reserve _^_ CYPRESSTu' 

his whole force, numbering more than ' ^*™ Js^UonxB.Zr.- 
twelve thousand men, to make a gen- 
eral assault. Having been reinforced 
by about three thousand militia (chief- 
ly Kentuckians), Jackson now had 
six thousand expert marksmen con- 
cealed behind his intrenchments, or 
stationed at the batteries on his ex- 
tended line. A deep and ominous 
silence prevailed behind these defenses, until the British had approached within 
reach of the batteries, when the Americans opened a terrible cannonade. Yet 
tlie enemy continued to advance until within range of the American musket-^ 
and rifles. Volley after volley then poured a deadly storm of lead upon the 

" Note 8, page 170. 

" All the inlets, or bayous, were obstructed, and the lianks of the Mississippi wore so fortlfi.-i 
a-s to prevent the ascent of vessels. A battery was erected on Chef Menteur, at the entrance to 
Lake I'ontchartrain. 

^ These intrenchments were^ a mile in length, extending from the river so far into the swamp, 
as to bo impassable at the extremity. Along tliis line were eight distinct batteries, with heavy 
cannons ; and on the opposite side of the river was a battery with fifteen cannons. 




■ Jacks^on;s^ Une_ ^ „^&?^„ „ „ „ „ „ r,p\ 



^BnmsHg Column ^'f,, -_^'^-a 



Br^Batteries 
Ifi'K** 



BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS. 



440 



THE CONFEDERATION. 



[1814. 



invaders. The British column soon wavered ; General Packenham fell in front 
of his troops, with not less than a thousand dead and wounded lying around 
him ; and, utterly amazed by the terrible fire of the Americans, the entire 
army fled in confusion, leaving seven hundred dead, and more than a thousand 
vrounded; on the field. The fugitives hastened to their encampment [Jan. 9], 




^, ;^ -^ ^i^^^o-^cJ^ 



and finally to their ships [Jan. 18], and escaped.' The Americans were so 
safely intrenched, that they lost only seven killed and six wounded^ in this 
victorious battle. It was the crowning victory,^ and last land battle of moment, 
of the Second War for Independence.' 

While the victory of the Americans at New Orleans saved that city from 
plunder and destruction,'' and the whole Southern country from invasion, the 



' "While these operations were in progress on the Mississippi, the British fleet had not been in- 
active. Some vessels bombarded Fort St. Philip, below New Orleans, on the 11th of January, and 
continued the attack for eight days without success. In the mean while. Admiral Cockburn [page 
430] was pursuing his detestable warfare along the Carolina and Georgia coasts, menacing Charles- 
ton and Savannah with destruction, and landing at obscure points to plunder the inhabitants. 

"^ During 1814, the war continued on the ocean, yet there were no battles of great importance. 
The Peacock captured the British brig Epervier, on the 29th of April, off the coast of Florida. The 
Wasp, Captain Blakely, also made a successful cruise, but after capturing her thirteenth prize, dis- 
appeared, and was never heard of again. Probably lost in a storm. The President, Commodore 
Decatur, was captured off Long Island, on the IGth of Januarv, 1815; and on the 20th of February 
following, the Constitution, Commodore Stewart, had a severe action with the British frigate Cyane, 
and sloop-of-war Levant, and captured both. Soon after this, the British brig Penguin was captured, 
but the proclamation of peace had then ended the war. ^ Page 409. 

* It is asserted, upon good authority, that Packenham's watchword, as he led his troops toward 
the city, was "Booty and Beauty," thereby indicating that plunder and ravishment should be the 
soldiers' reward I We can hardly believe Sir Edward really contemplated such barbarity. 



1815.] THE SECOND WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 443 

brave Jackson, whose skill and prowess had been chiefly instrumental in pro- 
ducing that result, was mercilessly assailed by some persons in official station 
who could not appreciate his pure motives and sturdy patriotism. Perceiving 
the necessity of prompt and vigorous action, Jackson had taken all power into 
his hands, on his arrival at New Orleans, and declared martial law.' Governor 
Claiborne'' wisely and generously seconded the measure, and surrendering all 
authority into the hands of General Jackson, led a large body of the militia of 
his State to the field. Three days after the battle, the news of peace arrived ; 
and Judge Hall immediately ordered the arrest of Jackson, on a charge of con- 
tempt of court.' He was tried ; and the judge fined him a thousand dollars. 
The people hissed the official ; bore the brave general upon their shoulders from 
the court-room to the street, and then the immense crowd sent up a shout, such 
as went over the land with emphasis thirteen years later, when he was a candi- 
date for the Chief Magistracy of the nation* — "Hurrah for Jackson!" The 
blow aimed at him recoiled Avith fearful force upon his persecutors. 

The country was made vocal with rejoicings on account of the victory 
at New Orleans : and Congress honored General Jackson with thanks and a 
gold medal. A little more than a month after the battle, a proclamation by 
the President [Feb. 18, 1815], that peace had been secured by treaty, spread a 
smile of tranquillity and happiness over the whole Union.* For more than a 
year, efforts toward that end had been put forth. As early as December, 1813, 
the British government had sent overtures of peace to that of the United 
States. They were forwarded by the British schooner Bramble^ which arrived 
at Annapolis, in Maryland, on the 1st of January, 1814, bearing a flag of 
truce. The President at once informed Congress of the fact, and immedi- 
ate action was had. The overtures were promptly met, in a conciliatory 
spirit, by the government of the United States, and commissioners were ap- 
pointed by the two powers to negotiate a treaty. ° For a long time the Amer- 
ican commissioners were treated with neglect by the British government. They 

' Note 8, page 170. 

" William C. C. Claiborne was born in Virginia in 1775, and was educated at William and Mary 
College. He became an assistant clerk of the Federal House of Representatives at the age of six- 
teen years ; and at the age of twenty-nine, President Jeiferson appointed him governor of the 
Louisiana Territory. He had already become conspicuous as a lawyer in the West ; and at the age 
of twent\--two he was a judge of the Supreme Court of Tennessee. He was elected to Congress the 
following year, and was a distinguished man in that body. Ho was elected governor of Louisiana 
when it became a State in 1812, and was acting in that capacity when the British menaced New 
Orleans. He left that ofQce in 1817, when he was elected to the United States Senate. But his 
death was near, and he never entered that assembly. He died in November, 1817, in the forty- 
second year of his age. 

' A member of the Louisiana Legislature assaOod Jackson by a newspaper publication. Jack- 
son ordered his arrest. Judge Hall granted a writ of habeas corpus. Jackson, in the proper exer- 
cise of his power under martial law, not only refused obedience to the mandates of the writ, but 
arrested the judge, and sent him out of the city. For this " contempt of court'' Jackson himself 
was arrested. His noble defense was written by Edward Livingston. * Page 459. 

' As we have observed, intelhgence of the signing of the treaty reached New Orleans three 
days after the battle. It was not formally proclaimed until more than a month atlerward. 

® The United States commissioners were John Quincy Adams, James A. Bayard. Henry Clay, 
John Russel, and .\lbert Gallatin. Those of Great Britain were Admiral Lord Gambier, Henry 
Goulbourn, and William Adams. These commissioners are all dead. Mr. Clay, who died in 1852, 
was the last survivor. 



444 THE CONFEDERATION. [1814. 

were suffered to remain in England unnoticed, for months, and then the ministry, 
proposing first one place, and tlien another, for the negotiations, exhibited a trifling 
spirit, derogatory to true dignity. For half a year the treaty was prolonged 
in this Avay, until, finally, the commissioners of the two governments met in the 
city of Ghent, in Belgium, in the month of August, 1814. On the 24th of 
December following, a treaty was signed, which both governments speedily 
ratified. It stipulated a mutual restoration of all places and possessions taken 
during the war, or which might be taken after signing the treaty ; declared that 
all captures at sea should be relinquished, if made within specified times there- 
after, in different parts of the world ; and that each party should mutually put 
a stop to Indian hostilities, and endeavor to extinguish the traffic in slaves. 
The boundaries, imperfectly adjusted by the treaty of 1783,' were all settled; 
but the subject of impressment of seamen, Avhich was the chief cause of the war," 
of paper blockades,' and orders in council,* were all passed by without specific 
notice, in the treaty. With this treaty ended the war, which had been in prog- 
ress for two years and eight months ; and the proclamation of the fact was an 
occasion of the most sincere rejoicing throughout the United States and Great 
Britain, for it w\is an unnatural contest — a conflict between brethren of the 
same blood, the same religion, the same laws, and the same literature. 

During these negotiations, the war, as we have seen, was vigorously prose- 
cuted, and the opposition of the Federalists grew more intense.^ It reached its 
culmination in December, when delegates, appointed by several New England 
Legislatures," met [Dec. 15, 1814] in convention at Hartford, for the purposes 
of considering the grievances of the people, caused by a state of war, and to de- 
vise speedy measures for its termination.' This convention, whose sessions were 
secret, was denounced as treasonable by the administration party ; but patriot- 
ism appears to have prevailed in its councils, whatever may have been the de- 
signs of some. Its plans for disunion or secession, if any were formed, were 
rendered abortive soon after its adjournment, by the proclamation of peace, fol- 
lowed by the appointment of a day for national thanksgiving to the Almighty 
for the blessed event. That day was observed throughout the Union. 

The short time which remained of the session of Congress, after the proclam- 
ation of peace, was occupied by that body in adapting the affairs of the govern- 
ment to the new condition of things. The army was reduced to a peace ostab- 
ment of ten thousand men, and various acts, necessary for the public good 
during a state of war, were repealed. The naval establishment, however, was 
kept up ; and the depredations of Algerine cruisers caused Congress to author- 

' Page 348. * Note 5, page 409. 

^ A port being blockaded by proclamation, ■vvitliout ships of war being there to maintain it. 
This practice is no longer in vogue. ■* Note 1, page 400. ^ Pago 410. 

^ New Hampshire and Vermont were unrepresented, except by three county delegates. The 
Federalists in Vermont, especially, were now in a weak majority ; and Governor Gilman, of New 
Hampshire, the members of whose council were Democratic, could not call a meeting of the Legis- 
lature to appoint delegates. 

' George Cabot was appointed President of the Convention, and Theodore Dwight, a former 
member of Congress from Connecticut, and then editor of the Hartfurd Union, W"as its secretary. 
The Convention was composed of twenty-six members. 



1815.] THE SECOND WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 445 

ize the President to send a squadron to the Mediterranean Sea. The results of 
the war, though apparently disastrous to all concerned at the time, were seen 
subsequently, to have been highly beneficial to the United States, not so much 
in a material as in a moral aspect. The total cost of the war to the United 
States was about one hundred millions of dollars, and the loss of lives, by bat- 
tles and other casualties incident to the war, has been estimated at thirty thou- 
sand persons. The cost of blood and treasure to the British nation was much 
greater. During the war, the Americans captured, on the ocean and on the 
lakes, fifty-six British vessels of war, mounting 886 cannons ; and 2,360 mer- 
chant vessels, mounting 8,000 guns. There Avere also lost on the American 
coast, during the war, by wreck or otherwise, twenty-nine British ships of war, 
mounting about 800 guns. The Americans lost only twenty-five vessels of Avar' 
and a much less number of merchant-ships than the British. 

The clouds of an almost three years' Avar had scarcely disappeared from the 
firmament, Avhen others suddenly arose. The contest with England had but 
just ended, when the United States were compelled to engage in a brief 

WAR WITH ALGIERS. 

As we haA^e observed,* the United States had paid tribute to Algiers since 
1795. EA^ery year, as his strength increased, the ruler of that Barbary State 
became more insolent," and, finally, believing that the United States naA^y had 
been almost annihilated by the British in the late contest, he made a pretense 
for rencAving depredations upon American commerce, in violation of the treaty. 
The American government determined to pay tribute no longer, accepted the 
challenge, and in May, 1815, Commodore Decatur^ proceeded Avith a squadron 
to the Mediterranean, to humble the pirate. Fortunately, the Algerine fleet 
was cruising in the Mediterranean, in search of American A^essels. On the 17th 
of June [1815], Decatur met and captured the flag-ship (a frigate) of the Al- 
gerine admiral, and another vessel with almost six hundred men, and then sailed 
for tiie Bay of Algiers. He immediately demanded [June 28] the instant sur- 
render of all American prisoners, full indemnification for all property destroyed, 
and absolute relinquishment of all claims to tribute from the United States, in 
future. Informed of the fate of a part of his fleet, the Dey' yielded to the 
humiliating terms, and signed a treaty [June 30] to that effect. Decatur then 
sailed for Tunis, and demanded and received [July, 1815] from the bashaw, 
forty-six thousand dollars, in payment for American A-essels Avhich he had 
allowed the English to capture in his harbor. The same demand, on the same 
account, was made upon the bashaAv of Tripoli.' and Decatur received [August] 
twenty-five thousand dollars from him and the restoration of prisoners. This 
cruise in the Mediterranean gaA^e full security to American commerce in those 



' Papre 381. 



" Paije 381. In 1812, the Dey compelled Mr. Lear, the American consul fpape 39.'5]. to pay 
him S;27,000 for the safety of himself; familv, and a few Americans, under the penalty of all being 
made slaves. 

^ Page 392. * Note 3, page 392, * Page 392. 



446 THE CONFEDERATION. [1817. 

seas, and greatly elevated the character of the government of the United States 
in the opinion of Europe. Now Avas accomplished, during a single cruise, what 
the combined powers of Europe dared not to attempt. 

Now the eventful administration of INIr. Madison drew to a close, and very 
little of general interest occurred, except the chartering of a new United States 
Bank,' with a capital of $35,000,000, to continue twenty years ; and the admis- 
sion of Indiana [December, 1810] into the union of States. On the 16th of 
March, 1816, a caucus of Democratic members of Congress, nominated James 
Monroe of Virginia (who had been Madison's Secretary of War for a few months), 
for President of the United States, and Daniel D. Tompkins'' of New York, 
for Vice-President. The Federalists^ whose power, as a party, was now 
rapidly passing away, nominated Rufus King' for President, and votes were 
given to several persons for Vice-President. Monroe and Tompkins were elected 
by large majorities. Mr. Monroe's election was by an almost unanimous vote 
of the electoral college.* Only one (in New Hampshire) was cast against him. 






CHAPTER VII. 

MONROE'S ADMINISTRATION. [1817—182 5]. 

On the 4th of March, 1817, James Monroe," the fifth President of the 
United States, Avas inaugurated at Washington City. The oath of office was 
administered by Chief Justice Marshall," in the presence of Mr. Madison, the 
judges of the Supreme Court, and a large congregation of citizens. His address 
on that occasion was liberal and temperate in its tone, and gave general satis- 
faction to the people. The commencement of his administration was hailed as 
the dawn of an era of good feeling and national prosperity.' He selected his 
cabinet from the Republican party, and never since the formation of the gov- 

' Page 372. 

"^ Daniel D. Tompkins was born in 1774. He was a prominent Democrat when Jefferson was 
elected [page 389] President of the United States. He was chief justice of New York and also 
Governor of the State. He died on Staten Island, in 1825. 

^ Page 395. * Note 1, page 361. 

^ James Monroe was born in 'Westmoreland county, Virginia, in April, 1759. He was edu- 
cated at William and Mary College, and his youth was spent amid the political excitements, when 
the War for Independence was kindling. He joined the Continental army, under Washington, in 
1776, and during the campaigns of 1777 and 1778, he was aid to Lord Stirling. After the battle 
of Monmouth, he left the army and commenced the study of law under Jefferson. • He was again 
in the field when Arnold and Phillips invaded his State, in 1781 [page 330]. The next year, 
he was a member of the Virginia Legislature, and at the age of twenty-five, was elected a delegate 
to the Continental Congress. He was in active life as a legislator, foreign minister. Governor of 
Virginia, and President of the United States, until his retirement from the latter office in 1825. 
He died in the city of New York, on the 4th of July, 1831, when in the seventy-second year of his 
age. His remains lie unmarked by any monument, except a simple slab, in a cemetery on the 
north side of Second-street, in the city of New York. * Page 351. 

' President Monroe, soon after his inauguration, made a long tour of observation, extending to 
Portland, in Maine, on the east, and to Detroit, on the west, in which he was occupied more tlian tlu'eo 
months. He was everywhere received with the kindest attentions and highest honors, and his 
journey was conducive to the national good. 



1825.] MONROE'S ADMINISTRATION. 447 

ernment, had a President been surrounded with abler counselors.' IMonroe 
was a judicious and reliable man ; and when we reflect upon the condition of the 
country at that time— in a transition state from war and confusion to peace and 
order — his elevation to the presidency seems to have been a national blessing. 




The administration of Mr. Monroe was marked by immense expansion in 
the material growth of the United States. During the war, a large number of 
manufacturing establishments had been nurtured into vigorous life by great 
demands and high prices ; but when peace returned, and European manufac- 
tures flooded the country at very low prices, wide-spread ruin ensued, and 
thousands of men were compelled to seek other employments. The apparent 
misfortune was a mercy in disguise, for the nation. Beyond the Alleghanies, 
millions of fertile acres, possessing real wealth, were awaiting the tiller s indus- 
try and skill.' Agriculture beckoned the bankrupts to her fields. Homes m 

' His cabinet consisted of John Quiiicv Adams. Secretary of State ; William H. Crawford, Sec- 
retary of the Treasury; John C. Calhoun," Secretary of War: Benjamin Crowninshield. Secretary of 
the Navy ; and William Wirt, Attorney-General. He offered the War Department to the venerable 
Governor Shelby, of Kentucky [pa^e 417]. who declined it. Calhoun was appointed in December, 
1817. Crowninshield, who was in Madison's cabinet, continued in office until the close of Novem- 
ber, 1818, when Smith Thompson, of New York, was appointed in his place. 

* The progress of the States and Territories west of the Allefrhanies [note 3, page 19], in wealth 
and population, is truly wonderful. A little more than fifty years ago, those immense lakes, Onta- 
rio, Erie. Michigan, Huron, and Superior, were entirely without commerce, and an Indian's canoo 
was almost the only craft seen upon them. In 1853, the value of traffic upon these waters and the 
navigable rivers, was estimated at five hundred and sixty-two millions of dollars. See note 4, page 
537. Twenty-five years ago [1831] there were less than five thousand white people in the vast 



448 THE CONFEDERATION. [1817. 

the East were deserted ; emigration flowed over the mountains in a broad and 
vigorous stream: and before the close of Monroe's administration, four new 
sovereign States had started into being' from the wilderness of the great AVest, 
and one in the East.- 

The hist year of Monroe's administration was chiefly distinguished by the 
admission [December 10, 1817] of a portion of the Mississippi Territory into 
the Union, as a State,' and the suppression of two piratical and slave-dealing 
establishments near the southern and south-western borders of the Republic, 
One of them was at the mouth of the St. Mary's, Florida, and the other at 
Galveston, Texas. In addition to a clandestine trade in slaves, these bucca- 
neers,^ under pretense of authority from some of the Spanish republics of 
South America,^ were endeavoring to liberate the Floridas from the dominion 
of Spain. In November, 1817, United States troops proceeded to take pos- 
session of Amelia Island, the rendezvous of the pirates on the Florida coast, and 
the Galveston establishment soon disappeared for want of support. 

Other serious difficulties arose at about the same time. A motley host, 
composed chiefly of Seminole Indians,* Creeks dissatisfied with the treaty of 
1814,' and runaway negroes, com.menced murderous depredations upon the 
frontier settlements of Georgia and the Alabama Territory, toward the close of 
1817. General Gaines* was sent to suppress these outrages, and to remove 
every Indian from the territory which the Creeks had ceded to the United 
States, in 1814. Ilis presence aroused the fiercest ire of the Indians, who, it 
was ascertained, were incited to hostilities by British subjects, protected by the 
Spanish authorities in Florida. Gaines was placed in a perilous position, when 
General Jackson, with a thousand mounted Tennessee volunteers, hastened 
[December, 1817] to his aid. In March, 1818, he invaded Florida,, took pos- 
session [April] of the weak Spanish post of St. Mark, at the head of Apa- 
lachee Bay," and sent the civil authorities and troops to Pensacola." At St. 
Mark he secured the persons of Alexander Arbuthnot and Robert C. Ambrister, 
who, on being tried [April 26] by a court martial, were found guilty of being 
the principal emissaries among the southern Indians, inciting them to hostilities. 



rep:ion between Lake Micliip:an and the Pacific Ocean ; now [1856] the number is probably two and 
a lialf millions. Chicago was then a mere hamlet; now [1856] it is a fine city, with not less than 
eighty tliousand inhabitants. And never was the growth of the Great West more rapid than at 
the present. 

' Mississippi, December 10, 1817; Illinois, December 3, 1818; Alabama, December 14, 1819; 
and Missouri, March 2, 1821. ^ Maine, March 3, 1820. 

^ The Territory was divided. The western portion was made a Srate, and the eastern was 
erected into a Territory, named Alabama, after its principal river. It included a portion of Georgia, 
given for a consideration. See page 455. ■* Note 6, page 149. 

' During tlie first quarter of the present century, nearly all of the countries in Central and South 
America, which, since the conquests of Cortez [page 43] and Pizarro [note 4, page 44]. had been 
under the Spanish yoke, rebelled, and forming republics, became independent of Spain. It was the 
policy of our government to encourage these republics, by preventing the establishment of monarch- 
ical power on the American continent. This is known as the " Monroe doctrine," a term frequently 
used in political circles. 

« Page 30. ' Note 8, page 428. 

" Page 398. Edmund P. Gaines was born in Virginia, in 1777. He entered the army in 1799, 
and rose gradually until he was made Major-General for his gallantry at Fort Erie {page 433] in 
1814. He remained in the army until his death, in 1849. » Page 44. '» Page 438. 



1825.] MONROE'S ADMINISTRATION. 452 

They were both executed on the 30th of the same month.' Jackson soon after- 
ward marched for Pcnsacola, it being known that the Spanish authorities there 
had encouraged the Indians in making depredations in Alabama. The Spanish 
governor protested against this invasion of his territory ; but J ackson, satisfied 
of his complicity with the Indians, pushed forward and seized Pensacola on the 
24th of May. The governor and a few followers fled on horseback to Fort 
Barrancas, at the entrance to Pensacola Bay. This fortress was captured by 
Jackson three days afterward [May 27J, and the Spanish authorities and troops 
were sent to Havana. 

For this invasion of the territory of a friendly power, and his summary pro- 
ceedings there, General Jackson was much censured. Ilis plea, in justification, 
was the known interference of the Spanish authorities in Florida, in our domes- 
tic affairs, by sheltering those who were exciting the Indians to bloody deeds ; 
and the absolute necessity of prompt and efficient measures at the time. He 
was sustained by the government and the voice of the people. These measures 
developed the necessity for a general and thorough settlement of affairs on the 
southern boundary of the Republic, and led to the important treaty' concluded 
at Washington City, in February, 1819, by which Spain ceded to the United 
States the whole of the Floridas, and the adjacent islands. That country was 
erected into a Territory in February, 1821 ; and in March ensuing, General 
Jackson was appointed the first governor of the newly-acc^uired domain. 

We have observed that the vast region of Louisiana, purchased from France 
in 1803, was divided into two Territories.^ The Louisiana Territory was 
admitted into the Union as a State, in 1812 ;* and Avhile the treaty concerning 
Florida Avas pending, the southern portion of the remainder of the Territory 
extending westward of that State to the Pacific Ocean, Avhich was erected into 
the "Missouri Territory" in 1812, was formed into a separate government 
in 1819, and called Arkansas. In December, the same year, Alabama was 



' Arbuthnot was a Scotch trader from New Providence, one of the Bermuda Islands. He had 
a store on the Suwaney River, where many of the hostile Indians and negroes congregated. Am- 
brister was a youug Elnglishman, about twenty-one years of age, who had borne a lieutenant's 
commission in the British service. He was also at the Suwaney settlements, and put himself at the 
head of tlie Indians and negroes. 

* Made by John Quincy Adams for the United States, and Don Ouis, the Spanish embassador 
at "Washington. Hitherto, the United States had claimed a large portion of Texas, as a part of 
Louisiana. By this treaty, Texas was retained by the Spaniards. The cession was made as an 
equivalent for all claims against Spain for injury done the American conunerce, to an amount not 
exceeding five miUious of dollars. The treaty was not finally ratified until Februarj', 1821. 

= Pago 390. 

^ The admirable penal code of Louisiana, which has ever stood the test of severe criticism, is 
the work of Edward Livingston, who was appointed the principal of a commission appointed to 
codify the laws of that State. The code, of which lie was the sole author, was adopted in 1824. 
Mr. Livingston was born upon the "Manor," in Columbia county. New York, in 17G-4. He was 
educated at Princeton, studied law under Chancellor Lansing, and liecame eminent in liis profession. 
He became a member of Congress in 1794, then attorney for the district of New York, and finally, 
he went to New Orleans to retrieve a broken fortune. He was an aid to General Jackson, in the 
battle at New Orleans, in .January, 1815, and his pen wrote the noble defense of that soldier, when 
he was persecuted by civil officers in that city. See page 443. "When the last page of his manu- 
script code of laws for Louisiana was ready for the press, a fire consumed the wliole. and ho was 
two years reproducing it. That work is his monument. Mr. Livingston was Secretary of State 
under President Jackson ; and in 1 833, he was sent to Franco, as the resident minister of the 
United States. Ho died ui Dutchess county, New York, in May, 1837. 



452 



THE CONFEDERATION. 



[1817. 



admitted into the Union; and at the same time, Missouri and Maine were 
making overtures for a similar position. Maine was admitted in March, 1820,' 
but the entrance of INIissouri was delayed until August, 1821, by a violent and 
protracted debate which sprung up between the Northern and the Southern 
members of Congress on the subject of slavery, elicited by the proposition for 
its admission. 




K'-- 




'.^.^X^^^c^-T^Z^/^TZ- 



It was during the session of 1818-19, that a bill was introduced into Con- 
gress, which contained a provision forbidding the existence of slavery or invol- 
untary servitude in the new State of Missouri, when admitted. Heated debates 
immediately occurred, and the subject was postponed until another session. 
The whole country, in the mean while, was agitated by disputes on the subject ; 
and demagogues, as usual at the North and at the South, raised the cry of Dis- 
union of the Confederation! Both parties j^rcpared for the great struggle ; 
and when the subject was again brought before Congress [November 23, 1820], 
angry disputes and long discussions ensued. A compromise was finally agreed 
to [February 28, 1821], by which slavery should be allowed in Missouri and 
in all territory south of thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes north latitude 
(southern boundary of Missouri), and prohibited in all the territory northerly 
and westerly of these limits. This is known as The Missoirri Compromise.' 
Under this compromise, Missouri was admitted on the 21st of August, 1821, and 



* Page 129. 



Page 501. 



1825.] MONROE'S ADMINISTRATION. 453 

the excitement on the subject ceased. The Confederation was now composed 
of twenty-four sovereign States. 

While the Missouri question was pending, a new election for President and 
Vice-President of the United States, took place. Never, since the foundation 
of the government, had there been an election so quiet, and so void of party 
virulence. Mr. Monroe was re-elected President, and Mr. Tompkins' Vice- 
President [November, 1820J, by an almost unanimous vote — the old Federal 
party,' as an organization, being nearly extinct. The administration had been 
very popular, and the country was blessed with general prosperity. Two other 
measures, besides those already noticed, received the warmest approbation of the 
people. The first was an act of Congress, passed in March, 1818, in pursu- 
ance of Monroe's recommendation, making provision, in some degree, for the 
surviving officers and soldiers of the Revolution. It was subsequently extended, 
so as to include the widows and children of those who were deceased. The 
other was an arrangement made with Great Britain, in October, 1818, by 
which American citizens were allowed to share with those of that realm, in the 
valuable Newfoundland fisheries. At the same time, the northern boundary 
of the United States, from the Lake of the Woods to the Rocky IMountains, 
was defined.' 

Few events of general importance, aside from the rapid progress of the 
country in all its industrial and governmental operations, occurred during the 
remainder of jNIonroe's administration, except the suppression of piracy among 
the West India Islands, and the visit of General La Fayette^ to the United 
States, as the nation's guest. The commerce of the L^nited States had been 
greatly annoyed and injured by swarms of pirates who infested the West India 
seas. A small American squadron, under Commodore Perry, ^ had been sent 
thither in 1819, to chastise the buccaneers. Perry died of the yellow fever in 
the performance of his duty, and very little was done at that time. About four 
years later [1822], a small American squadron destroyed more than twenty 
piratical vessels on the coast of Cuba ; and the following year the work was 
completed by a larger force, under Commodore Porter.'' The second-named 
event was of a more pleasing character. La Fayette, the companion-in-arms 
of Washington" during the Revolutionary struggle, arrived at New York, from 
France, in August, 1824, and during about eleven succeeding months, he made 
a tour of over five thousand miles, throughout the United States. He was 
everywhere greeted with the warmest enthusiasm, and was often met by men 
who had served under him in the first War for Independence. When he was 
prepared to return, an American frigate, named Brandi/ivine, in compliment 
to him,* was sent by the United States government to convey him back to 
France. 

Mr. Monroe's administration now drew toward a close, and in the autumn 



' Pago 446. « Pago 374. ' Page 479. 

•• Page 273. * Page 423. ' Pago 431. ' Page 273. 

* La Fayette's first battle for freedom in America, waa that on the Brandywine Creek, in Sep- 
tember, 1777, where he was wounded in the leg. See note 5, page 273. 



454 THE CONFEDERATION. [1825. 

of 1824, the people were called upon to select his successor. It soon became 
evident that a large proportion of the old politicians of the Democratic party 
had decided to support William H. Crawford, the Secretary of the Treasury, 
for the succession. Four candidates, representing the different sections of the 
Union,' were finally put in nomination. The result was, that the choice de- 
volved upon the House of Representatives, for the second time.'' That body, 
by an election held in February, 1825, chose John Quincy Adams for Presi- 
dent. John C. Calhoun had been chosen Vice-President by the people. The 
election and final choice produced great excitement throughout the country, 
and engendered political rancor equal to that which prevailed during the admin- 
istration of the elder Adams. Mr. Monroe's administration closed on the 4th 
of INIarch ensuing, and he resigned to his successor the Chief Magistracy of a 
highly-prosperous nation. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS'S ADMINISTRATION. [1825—1829.] 

At about half-past twelve o'clock, on the 4th day of March, 1825, John 
Quincy Adams, ^ son of the second President of the United States, entered the 
hall of the House of Representatives, and took his seat in the chair of the 
Speaker. He was dressed in a suit of black cloth, and, being small in stature, 
did not present a more dignified appearance than hundreds of his fellow-citizens 
around him. He appeared, as he really was, a plain Republican — one of the 
people. When silence was obtained, he arose and delivered his inaugural ad- 
dress ; then descending, he placed himself on the right hand of a table, and 
took the oath of ofiice, administered by Chief-Justice IM-arshall. The Senate 
being in session, Mr. Adams immediately nominated his cabinet officers,^ and 

^ John Quincy Adams in the East, Wilham H. Crawford in the South, Andrew Jackson and 
Henry Clay in the West. " Page 388. 

^ John Quincy Adams, tlie sixth President of the United States, was bom at Quincy, Massa- 
chusetts, on the 11th of July, 1767. He went to Europe, with his father, at the age of eleven 
years : and, in Paris, he was much in the society of Franklin and other distinguished men. At the 
a»e of fourteen years he accompanied Mr. Dana to St. Petersburg, as private secretary to that em- 
bassador. He traveled much alone, and finally returned, and finished his education at Harvard 
College. Pie became a lawyer, but pubhc service kept him fi-om that pursuit. He was made 
United States minister to the Netherlands in 1794, and afterward held the same ofiBce at Lisbon 
and Berlin. He was a member of the United States Senate in 1803 ; and in 1809 he was sent as 
minister to the Russian court. After negotiating a treaty of peace at Ghent [page 443], he was ap- 
pointed minister to the English court. In 1817 he was made Secretary of State, by Mr. Monroe. 
Having served one term as President of the United States, he retired; -and from 1831, he was a 
member of Congress until his death, which occurred in the Speaker's room, at the Federal Capitol, 
on the 22d of February, 1848. when in the eighty-first year of his age. 

* Henry Clay, Secretary of State ; Richard Rush, Secretary of the Treasury ; James Barbour, 
Secretary of War ; Samuel L. Southard (continued in office). Secretary of the Navy ; and William 
"Wirt (continued), Attorney-General. There was considerable opposition in the Senate to the con- 
firmation of Henry Clay's nomination. He had been charged with defeating the election of General 
Jackson, by givmg his influence to Mr. Adams, on condition that he should be appointed his Secre- 



1829.] 



JOHN QUINCT ADAMS'S ADMINISTRATION. 



45^ 



all but one were confirmed by a unanimous vote of that body. His political 
views were consonant with those of Mr. Monroe, and the foreign and domestic 
policy of his administration were generally conformable to those views. The 
amity which existed between the United States and foreign governments, and 
the absence of serious domestic troubles, made the administration of Mr. Adams 




a remarkably quiet one, and gave the executive opportunities for adjusting the 
operations of treaties with the Indian tribes, and the arrangement of measures 
for the promotion of those great staple interests of the country — agriculture, 
commerce, and manufactures. Discords, which the election had produced, ex- 
cited the whole country during Mr. Adams's administration, with the agitations 
incident to excessive party zeal, and bitter party rancor ; yet the President, 
thoroughly acquainted with all the public interests, and as thoroughly skilled 
in every art of diplomacy and jurisprudence, managed the affairs of State with 
a fidelity and sagacity which command our warmest approbation. 

One of the most exciting topics, for thought and discussion, at the beginning 
of Adams's administration [1825], was a controversy between the Federal Gov- 
ernment and the chief magistrate of Georgia, concerning the lands of the Creek 
Indians, and the removal of those aboriginals from the territory of that State. 
Yf hen Georgia relinquished her claims to considerable portions of the Missis- 
sippi Territory,' the Federal Government agreed to purchase, for that State, 



tary of State. This, however, was only a bubble on the surface of political strife, and had no truth- 
ful sub.<?tance. In the Senate, there were twenty-seven votes in favor, and fourteen against con- 
tirming the nomination of Mr. Clay. ' Note 2, page 447. 



456 THE CONFEDERATION. [1825. 

the Indian lands within its borders, "whenever it could be peaceably done upon 
reasonable terms." The Creeks, who, with their neighbors, the Cherokees, 
were beginning to practice the arts of civilized life, refused to sell their lands. 
Troup, the governor of Georgia, demanded the immediate fulfillment of the con- 
tract. He caused a survey of the lands to be made, and prepared to distribute 




them by lottery, to the citizens of that State. Impatient at the tardiness of the 
United States in extinguishincr the Indian titles and removino; the remnants of 
the tribes, according to stipulation, the governor assumed the right to do it him- 
self The United States took the attitude of defenders of the Indians, and, for 
a time, the matter bore a serious aspect. The difficulties were finally settled, 
and the Creeks' and Cherokees" gradually removed to the rich wilderness be- 
yond the Mississippi. 

. At about this time a great work of internal improvement was completed. 
The Erie Canal, in the State of New York, was finished in 1825. It was the 
most important and stupendous public improvement ever undertaken in the 
United States ; and, though it was the enterprise of the people of a single State, 
that originated and accomplished the labor of forming the channel of a river 
through a large extent of country, it has a character of nationality. Its earli- 
est advocate was Jesse Hawley, who, in a series of articles published in 1807 
and 1808, signed Hercules^ set forth the feasibility and great importance of 
such a connection of the waters of Lake Erie and the Hudson River. ^ His 

' Page 30. ^ Page 27. 

' In a manuscript letter now before the -u-riter, dated "Albany, 4th March, 1822," Dewitt Clin- 
ton says to Jesse Hawley, to whom the letter is addressed: " In'auswer to your letter, I have no 



1829.] JOHN QUINCT ADAMS'S ADMINISTRATION. 457 

views were warmly seconded by Gouvcrneur Morris,' Dewitt Clinton, and a 
few others, and its final accomplishment was the result, chiefly, of the untir- 
ing efforts, privately and officially, of the latter gentleman, while a member 
of the Legislature and governor of the State of New York. It is three hun- 
dred and sixty- three miles in length, and the first estimate of its cost was 
$5,000,000. Portions of it have since been enlarged, to meet the increasing 
demands of its commerce ; and in 1853, the people of the State decided, by a 
general vote, to have it enlarged its entire length. That work is now [1856J 
in progress. 

A most remarkable coincidence occurred on the 4th of July, 182G, the fif- 
tieth anniversary of American Independence. On that day, and almost at the 
same hour, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson expired. They were both mem- 
bers of the committee who had framed the Declaration of Independence,* both 
signed it,^ both had been foreign ministers,* both had been Vice-Presidents, and 
then Presidents of the United States, and both had lived to a great age.' These 
coincidences, and the manner and time of their death, produced a profound im- 
pression upon the public mind. In many places throughout the Union, eulogies 
or funeral orations were pronounced, and these, collected, form one of the most 
remarkable contributions to our historical and biographical literature. 

After the difficulties with Georgia were settled, the remaining years of Mr. 
Adams's administration were so peaceful and prosperous, that public affjiirs 
present very few topics for the pen of the general historian," The most import- 
ant movement in foreign policy, was the appointment, early in 1826, of com- 
missioners' to attend a congress of representatives of the South American Re- 
publics,^ held at Panama [July, 182G], on the Pacific coast. This appointment 

hesitation in stating that the first suggestion of a canal from Lake Erie to the Hudson River, which 
came to my knowledge, was communicated in essays under tlie signature of Hercules, on Internal 
Navigation, published in the Ontario Messenger, at Canandaigua. The first number appeared on 
the 27th of October, 1807, and the series of numbers amounted, I believe, to fourteen. The board 
of Canal Commissioners, which made the first tour of observation and survey, in 1810, were pos- 
sessed of the writlhgs of Herndes, which were duly appreciated, as the work of a sagacious in- 
ventor and elevated mind. And you were at that time, and since, considered the author." Dewitt 
Clinton was a son of General James Clinton, of Orange county, New York. Ho was born in 
March, 1769, He was mavor of New York ten years, and was elected governor of tlio State in 
181 7, and again in 1820 and 1826. He died suddenly whQe in that office,' in Fcbruar}-, 1828. 

' Pago 364. '^ Note 2, page 251. 

^ Jeti'ei-son was its author, and Adams its principal supporter, in tlie Continental Congress. 

* Note 2, page 383, and note 5, page 388. 

' Mr. Adams died at Quincy, Massachusetts, at the age of almost ninety-one years. Mr. Jefier- 
son died at Monticello, Virginia, at the age of almost eighty-tlireo years. 

® An event occurred in 1326 which produced great excitement throughout the country, and led 
to the formation of a new, and for a time, quite a powerful political party. "William ^lorgan, of 
Western New York, announced his intention to publish a book, in which the secrets of Free 
Masonry were to be disclosed. He was suddenly seized at Canandaigua one evening, placed in a 
carriage, and was never heard of afterward. Some Free Masons were charged with his murder, 
and the report of an investigating committee, appointed by the New York State Legislature, con- 
firmed the suspicion. The public mind was greatly agitated, and there was a disposition to exclude 
Free Masons from office. An Anti-ilasonic party was formed, and its organization spread over 
several States. In 1831, a national anti-Masonic convention was held at Pliiladelphia^ and "William 
"^'irt, of Virginia^ was nominated for the office of President of the United States, Although the 
party polled a considerable vote, it soon afterward disappeared. 

' R. C. Adclison, and John Sargeant, commissioners ; and "U'illiam B. Rochester, of New York, 
their secretary. 

^ Note 5, page. 448. As early as 1823, General Bolivar, wliile actmg as President of Colombia, 



458 THE CONFEDERATION. [1825. 

produced much discussion in Congress, chiefly on party grounds. The result 
of the congress at Panama was comparatively unimportant, so far as the United 
States was concerned, and appears to have had very little influence on the 
aflFairs of South America. 

During the administration of Mr. Adams, the policy of protecting home 




^^-^^--tP'-^:^^:^;^^— ^ 



manufactures, by imposing a heavy duty upon foreign articles of the same kind, 
assumed the shape of a settled national policy, and the fouiylations of the 
American System, as that policy is called, Avas then laid. The illiberal commer- 
cial policy of Great Britain, caused tariff laws to be enacted by Congress as 
early as 1816, as retaliatory measures.' In 1824, imposts were laid on foreign 
fabrics, with a view to encourage American manufactures. In July, 1827, a 
national convention was held at Harrisburg, in Pennsylvania, to discuss the 
subject of protective tariffs. Only four of the slave States sent delegates. The 
result of the convention was a memorial to Cong-ress, askincf an augmentation 
of duties on several articles then manufactured in the United States. The Sec- 
retary of the Treasury called attention to the subject in his report in Decem- 



invited the governments of Mexico, Peru, Chili, and Buenos Ayres, to unite -^-itb him in forming a 
general congress at Panama, and the same year arrangements between Colombia, Mexico, and 
Peru were made, to eftect that object. In the spring of 1825. the United States government was 
invited to send a delegation to the proposed congress. The objects of the congress were, to settle 
upon some line of policy having the force of international law, respecting the rights of those repub- 
lics; and to consult upon measures to be taken to prevent further colonization on the American 
continent by European powers, and their interference in then existing contests. 
' Page 367. 



1829.] JACKSON'S ADMINISTRATION. 459 

ber following. Congress, at an earlj period of the session of 1827-'28, took 
up the matter, and a Tariff Bill became a law in May following. The Amer- 
ican System was very popular with the manufacturers of the North, but the 
cotton-growing States, which found a ready market for the raw material in En- 
gland, opposed it. The tariff law, passed on the loth of May, 1828, was very 
obnoxious to the Southern people.' They denounced it as oppressive and un- 
constitutional, and it led to menaces of serious evils in 1831 and 1832.' 

The Presidential election took place in the autumn of 1828, when the pub- 
lic mind was highly excited. For a long time the opposing parties had been 
marshaling their forces for the contest. The candidates were John Quincy 
Adams and General Andrew Jackson. The result was the defeat of Mr. Adams, 
and the election of General Jackson. John C. Calhoun,' of South Carolina, 
was elected Vice-President, and both had very large majorities. During the 
contest, the people appeared to be on the verge of civil war, so violent was the 
party strife, and so malignant were the denunciations of the candidates. When 
it was over, perfect tranquillity prevailed, the people cheerfully acquiesced in 
the result, and our sytem of government was nobly vindicated before the world. 

President Adams retired from office on the 4th of March, 1829. He left 
to his successor a legacy of unexampled national prosperity, peaceful relations 
with all the world, a greatly diminished national debt, and a surplus of more 
than five millions of dollars in the public treasury. He also be([ueathed to the 
Republic the tearful gratitude of the surviving soldiers of the Revolution, 
among whom had been distributed in pensions,* during his administration, more 
than five millions of dollars. 



CHAPTER IX. 

JACKSON'S ADMINISTRATION. [1829 — 1837] 

There were incidents of peculiar interest connected with the inauguration 
of Andrew Jackson,' the seventh President of the United States. President 

^ The chief articles on which heavy protective duties were laid, were woolen and cotton fab- 
rics. At that time, the value of annual imports of cotton goods from Great Britain was about 
$8,000,000 ; that of woolen goods about the same. The exports to Great Britain, of cotton, rice, 
and tobacco, alone (the chief products of the Southern States), was about $24,000,000 annually. 
These producers feared a great diminution of their exports, by a tariff that should almost wholly 
prohibit the importation of three millions of dollars' worth of British cotton and woolen fabrics, 
annually. ' Pago 463. 

" John C. Calhoun was bom in South Carolma in 1782. lie first appeared in Congress in 1811, 
and was always distinguished for his consistency, especially in his support of the institution of 
slavery, and the doctrine of State rights. He was a sound" and incorruptible statesman, and com- 
manded the thorough respect of the whole country. He died at Washmgton city, while a member 
of the United States Senate, in March, 1850. " Pago 453. 

^ Andrew Jackson was born in Mecklenberg county, North Carolina, in March, 1767. His 
parents were from the north of Ireland, and belonged to that Protestant community known as 
Scotch-Irish. In eariiest infancy, he was left to the care of an excellent mother, by the death of 
his father. He fu-st saw the horrors of war, and felt tho wrongs of oppression, when Colonel 



460 



THE CONFEDERATION". 



[1829. 



Adams had convened the Senate on the morning of the 4th of March, 1829, 
and at twelve o'clock that body adjourned for an hour. During that time, the 
President elect entered the Senate chamber, having been escorted from Gadsby's 
Hotel, by a few surviving officers and soldiers of the old War for Independence. 
These had addressed him at the hotel, and now, in presence of the chief officers 
of government, foreign ministers, and a large number of ladies, he thus replied 
to them : 




" Respected Friends — Your aifectionate address awakens sentiments and 
recollections which I feel with sincerity and cherish with pride. To have 
around my person, at the moment of undertaking the most solemn of all duties 
to my country, the companions of the immortal Washington, will afford me 
satisfaction and grateful encouragement. That by my best exertions, I shall be 
able to exhibit more than an imitation of his labors, a sense of my own imper- 

Buford'g troops were massacred [page 313, and note 1, page 314] in his neighborhood, in 1180. 
He entered the army, and suffered in the cause of freedom, by imprisonment, and the death of hia 
mother while she was on an errand of mercy. He studied law, and became one of the most 
eminent men in tlie Western District of Tennessee, as an advocate and a judge. He was ever a 
controlling spirit in that region. He assisted in framing a State constitution for Tennessee, and was 
the first representative of that State in the Federal Congress. He became United States senator in 
1797, and was soon afterward appointed Judge of the Supreme Court of his State. He settled near 
Nashville, and for a long time was chief military commander in that region. Wlien the "War of 
1812 broke out, he took the field, and in the capacity of Major-General, he did good service in the 
southern coimtiy, till its close. He was appointed the first Governor of Florida, in 1821, and in 
1823, was again in the United States Senate. He retired to private life at the close of his presi- 
dential term, and died at his beautiful residence, Tim Hermitage, near Nashville, in June, 1845, at 
the age of seventy-eight years. 



1837.] JACKSON'S ADMINISTRATION. 461 

fections, and tlic reverence I entertain for his virtues, forbid me to hope. To 
you, respected friends, the survivors of that heroic band who followed him, so 
long and so valiantly, in the path of glory, I offer my sincere thanks, and to 
Heaven my prayers, that your remaining years may be as happy as your toils 
and your lives have been illustrious." The whole company then proceeded to 
the eastern portico of the capitol, where, in the presence of a vast assembly of 
citizens, the President elect delivered his inaugural address, and took the oath 
of office, administered by Chief Justice Marshall.' That jurist again adminis- 
tered the same oath to President Jackson on the 4th of March, 1835, and a 
few months afterward went down into the grave. 

President Jackson was possessed of strong passions, an uncorrupt heart, and 
an iron will. Honest and inflexible, he seized the helm of the ship of state 
with a patriot's hand, resolved to steer it according to his own conceptions of 
the meaning of his guiding chart. The Constitut'ion^ unmindful of the inter- 
ference of friends or foes. His instructions to the first minister sent to England, 
on his nomination — "Ask nothing but what is right; submit to nothing 
wrong" — indicate the character of those moral and political maxims by Avhich 
he was governed. His audacity amazed his friends and alarmed his opponents ; 
and no middle men existed. He was either thoroughly loved or thoroughly 
hated; and for eight years he braved the fierce tempests of party strife,'' 
domestic perplexities,^ and foreign arrogance,* with a skill and courage which 
demands the admiration of his countrymen, however much they may differ with 
him in matters of national policy. The gulf between him and his political oppo- 
nents was so wade, that it was difficult for the broadest charity to bridge it. To 
those who had been his true friends during the election struggle, he extended the 
grateful hand of recognition, and after having his inquiries satisfied, "Is he 
capable ? is he honest?" he conferred official station upon the man who pleased 
him, with a stoical indifference to the clamor of the opposition. The whole of 
President Adams's cabinet officers haAang resigned, Jackson immediately nom- 
inated his political friends for his counselors, and the Senate confirmed his 
choice.^ 

Among the first subjects of general and commanding interest which occu- 
pied the attention of President Jackson, at the commencement of his administra- 
tion, were the claims of Georgia to lands held by the powerful Cherokee tribe 
of Indians, and lying within the limits of that State. Jackson favored the views 
of the Georgia authorities, and the white people proceeded to take possession of 
the Indians' land. Trouble ensued, and the southern portion of the Republic was 

> Page 351. 

^ Following tlio precedent of Jefferson [page 389], he filled a large number of the public offices 
with his pohtical friends, after removing the incumbents. These removals were for all causes : and 
daring his administration, tliey amounted to six Imudred and ninety out of several thousands, who 
were removable. The entire number of removals made bv all the preceding Presidents, from 1790 
to 1829, was seventy-four. = Page 4G4. " Page 468. 

* Martin Van Buren, Secretary of State ; Samuel D. Ingham, Secretary of the Treasury ; John 
H. Eaton, Secretary of War; John Branch, Secretary of the Navy; and John McPlicrson Berrian, 
Attornej'-General. It having been determined to make tlie Postmaster-General a cabinet officcrj 
William T. Barry was appointed to tliat station. 



462 THE CONFEDERATION. [1829. 

again menaced "with civil war. The matter was adjudicated by the Supreme 
Court of the United States, and on the 30th of March, 1832, that tribunal 
decided against the claims of Georgia. But that State, favored by the Presi- 
dent, resisted the decision. The difficulty was finally adjusted; and in 1838. 
General Winfield Scott' was sent thither, with several thousand troops, to 
remove the Cherokees, peaceably if possible, but forcibly if necessary, beyond 
the Mississippi. Through the kindness and conciliation of Scott, they were 
induced to migrate. They had become involved in the difficulties of their Creek 
neighbors,^ but were defended against the encroachments of the Georgians 
during Adams's administration. But in December, 1829, they were crushed, as 
a nation, by an act of Congress, and another of the ancient communities of the 
New World was wiped from the living record of empire. The Cherokees^ were 
more advanced in the arts of civilized life than the Creeks.* They had churches, 
schools, and a printing-press, and were becoming successful agriculturists. It 
appeared cruel in the extreme to remove them from their fertile lands and the 
graves of their fathers, to the wilderness ; yet it was, doubtless, a proper meas- 
ure for insuring the prosperity of both races. But now [1856], again, the tide 
of civilization is beating against their borders. Will they not be borne upon its 
powerful wave, further into the wilderness ? 

Another cause for public agitation appeared in 1832. In his first annual 
message [December, 1829] Jackson took strong ground against the renewal of 
the charter of the United States Bank,^ on the ground that it had failed in the 
great end of establishing a uniform and sound currency, and that such an insti- 
tution was not authorized by the Federal Constitution. He again attacked the 
bank in his annual message in 1830, and his objections were renewed in that 
of 1831. At the close of 1831, the proper officers of the bank, for the first 
time, petitioned for a renewal of its charter. That petition was presented in 
the Senate on the 9th of January, 1832, and on the 13th of March, a select com- 
mittee to whom it was referred, reported in favor of renewing the charter for 
fifteen years. Long debates ensued ; and, finally, a bill for re-chartering the 
bank passed both Houses of Congress : the Senate on the 11th of June, by 
twenty-eight against twenty votes ; and by the House of Representatives on the 
3d of July, by one hundred and seven against eighty-five. Jackson vetoed" it 
on the 10th of July, and as it failed to receive the support of two thirds of the 
members of both Houses, the bank charter expired, by limitation, in 1836. 
The commercial community, regarding a national bank as essential to their 
prosperity, were alarmed; and prophecies of panics and business revulsions, 
everywhere uttered, helped to accomplish their own speedy fulfillment. 

An Indian war broke out upon the north-western frontier, in the spring of 
1832. Portions of some of the western tribes,^ residing within the domain 



' Page 485. " Page 427. ' Page 2T. ■* Page 30. ^ Page 446. 

" That is, refused to sign it, and returned it to Congress, with his reasons, for reconsideration by 
that body. The Constitution gives the President this power, and when exercised, a bill can not 
become law without his signature, unless it shall, on reconsideration, receive the votes of two thirds 
of the members of both Houses of Congress. See Article I, Section 7, of the ConsUhdion, in the 
Supplement. ' Sacs, Foxes, and Wiunebagoes. See page 18. 



1837.] 



JACKSON'S ADMINISTRATION. 



46^ 



of the present State of Wisconsin,' led by Black Hawk," a fiery Sac chief, 
commenced warfare upon the frontier settlers of Illinois, in April of that year. 
After several skirmishes with United States troops and Ilhnois mihtia, under 
General Atkinson,' the Indians were driven beyond the Mississippi. Black 
Hawk w\as captured in Auf;;ust, 1832, and taken to Washington City ; and theu, 
to impress his mind with the strength of the nation he had foolishly made war 
with, he was conducted through several of the eastern cities. This 1)rief strife, 
which appeared quite alarming at one time, is known in history as the ■' Black 
Hawk AVar."" 

This cloud in the West had scarcely disappeared, when one loomed up in 
the South far more formidable in appearance, and charged with menacing thun- 




^^/i:^:i>ty.^:^cJ^ 



der that, for a while, shook the entire fabric of the Confederation. The dis- 
contents of the cotton-growing States, produced by the tariff act of 1828,'' 
assumed the form of rebellion in South Carolina, toward the close of 1832. 
An act of Congress, imposing additional duties upon foreign goods, passed in 

' That rlomain was not erected into a Territory until four j-ears after that event ; now it is aTicl;, 
populou.s, and flourisliing State. Pago I'- 

= Henry Atkinson was a native of North Carolina, and entered the army as captain, in 1S0^. 
He was retained in the array after the second "VTar for Tndcp(>ndence. was made Adjutant-" rencral, 
and was iinally appointed to the command of the Western Army. He died at Jefferson Barracks, 
in Juno, 1842. r j- -^ p 

* Black Hawk returned to his people, but was, with difficulty, restored to his fonner dignity ol 
chief. He died in October, 1840, and was buried on the banks of the Mississippi. Page 4o9. 



464 THE CONFEDERATION. [1829. 

the spring of 1832, led to a State convention in South Carolina, in November 
following. It assembled on the 19th of that month, and the Governor of South 
Carolina was appointed its president. That assembly declared the tariff acts 
unconstitutional, and therefore null and void. It resolved that duties should 
not be paid ; and proclaimed that any attempt to enforce the collection of duties 
in the port of Charleston, by the general government, would be resisted by 
arms, and would produce the withdrawal of South Carolina from the Union. 
The State Le^^islature, Avhich met directly after the adjournment of the con- 
vention, passed laws in support of this determination. Military preparations 
were immediately made, and civil war appeared inevitable. Then it was that 
the executive ability of the President, so much needed, was fully displayed. 
Jackson promptly met the crisis by a proclamation, on the 10th of December, 
which denied the right of a State to nullify any act of the Federal Govern- 
ment ; and warned those who were engaged in fomenting a rebellion, that the 
laws of the United States would be strictly enforced by military power, if 
necessary. This proclamation met the hearty response of every friend of the 
Union, of whatever party, and greatly increased that majority of the President's 
supporters, who had just re-elected him to the Chief Magistracy of the Repub- 
lic' The nullifiers" of South Carolina, though led by such able men as Cal- 
houn' and Ilayne,^ were obliged to yield for the moment : yet their zeal and 
determination in the cause of State Rights, were not abated. Every day the 
tempest-cloud of civil commotion grew darker and darker ; until, at length, 
Henry Clay,^ a warm friend of the American system," came forward, in Con- 
gress [February 12, 1833], Avith a bill, which provided for a gradual reduction 
of the obnoxious duties, during the succeeding ten years. This compromise 
measure Avas accepted by both parties. It became a law on the 3d of March, 
and discord between the North and the South soon ceased, but only for a 
season.' 

^ Jackson was re-elected by a larire majority, in November, 1832, over Henry Clay, the oppos- 
ing candidate. Martin Van Buren, of New York, was elected Vice-President. 

" Those who favored the doctrine that a State might nullify the acts of the Federal government, 
were called nullifiers, and the dangerous doctrine itself was called nullification. 

' Page 458. Mr. Calhoun, who had quarreled, politically, with Jackson, had recently resigned 
the office of Vice-President of the United States, and was one of the ablest men in Congress. 
He asserted the State Rights doctrine boldly on the floor of Congress, and held the same opinion 
until his death. 

■• Robert Y. Hayne was one of the ablest of southern statesmen. The debate between Hayne 
and Webster, in the Senate of the United States, during the debates on this momentous subject, is 
regarded as one of tlie most eminent, for sagacity and eloquence, that ever marked the proceedings 
of that body. Mr. Hayne was born near Charleston, South Carolina, in November, 1791. He was 
admitted to the bar in 1812, and the same year volunteered his services for the defense of the sea- 
board, and entered the army as lieutenant. He arose rapidly to the rank of Major-General of t'uQ 
militia of his State, and was considered one of the best disciplinarians of the South. He haii extru- 
sive practice at the b' r, before he was twenty-two years of age, and it was always lucrative. He 
was a member of the South CaroUna Assembly in lai-i, where he was distinguislied for eloquence. 
He was chosen Speal er in 1818. For ten years he represented South Carolina in the Senate of the 
United States ; and he was chairman of the Committee of the Convention of South Carolina, which 
reported ihe "ordinance of nullification." He was soon afterward chosen Governor of his State. 
He died in September, 1841, in the fiftieth year of his age. ^ Page 500. " Page 459. 

' It is said that Mr. Clay introduced the Compromise Bill with the concurrence of Mr. Calhoun. 
The latter had proceeded to the verge of treason, in his opposition to the general government, and 
President Jackson had threatened him with arrest, if he moved another step forward. Knowing 



1837.] JACKSON'S ADMINISTRATION. 4(35 

President Jackson's hostility to the United States Bank was af^ain mani- 
fested in his annual message to Congress, in December, 1832, when he recom- 
mended the removal of the public funds from its custody, and a sale of the 
stock of the bank, belonging to the United States.' Congress, by a decided 
vote, refused to authorize the measure : but after its adjournment, the Presi- 
dent assumed the responsibility of the act, and directed William J. Duane, the 
Secretary of the Treasury, to withdraw the government funds (then almost 
^10,000,000), and deposit them in certain State banks. During a northern 
tour which the President had made in the summer of 1833, he had urged ]\Ir. 
Duane (then in Philadelphia) to make the removal, but he would only consent 
to the appointment of an agent to inquire upon what terms the local banks 
would receive the funds on deposit. The President then ordered him, perem- 
torily, to remove them from the bank. The Secretary refused compliance, and 
was dismissed from office. His successor, Roger B. Taney (the present [1856] 
Chief- Justice of the United States) obeyed the President; and in October, 
1833, the act was accomplished. The effect produced was sudden and wide- 
spread commercial distress. The business of the country was plunged from the 
height of prosperity to the depths of adversity, because its intimate connection 
with the National Bank rendered any paralysis of the operations of that insti- 
tution fatal to commercial activity. The amount of loans of the bank, on the 
1st of October, was over sixty millions of dollars, and the amount of the funds 
of the United States, then on deposit in the bank, was almost ten millions of 
dollai-s. The fact, that the connection of the bank with the business of the 
country was so vital, confirmed the President in his opinion of the danger of 
such an enormous moneyed institution. 

A large portion of the government funds were removed in the course of four 
months, and the Avhole amount in about nine months. Intense excitement pre- 
vailed throughout the country ; yet the President, supported by the House of 
Representatives, persevered and triumphed. Numerous committees, appointed 
by merchants, mechanics, manufacturers, and others, waited upon him, to ask 
him to take some measures for relief He was firm ; and to all of them he re- 
plied, in substance, that "the government could give no relief and provide no 
remedy ; that the banks were the occasion of all the evils which existed, and that 



the firmness and decision of the President, Mr. Callioun dared not take the fatal step. He could 
not recede, nor even stand still, without compromising his character with his soutliem friends. In 
this extremit}', he arranged with Mr. Clay to propose a measure which would satisfy both sides, 
and save both his neck and his reputation. In justice to Mr. Calhoun, it is proper to say, that 
in the discussion of the matter in the Senate, he most earncstl}- disclaimed any hostile feeUngs 
toward the Union, on the part of South Carolhia. The State authorities, he asserted, had looked 
only to a judicial decision upon the question, until the concentration of the United States troops ai 
Charleston and Augusta, by order of the President, compelled them to make provision to defend 
themselves. Several of the State Legislatures hastened to condenm the nuliilication doctrine as 
destructive to the Federal Constitution. Massachusetts, Connecticut New York, Delaware. Indi- 
ana, Missouri, and Georgia, all thus spoke out plainly in favor of the Union. Georgia, however, ar 
the same time, expressed its reprobation of the tarift' system, which had brought about the move- 
ment in South Carolina, and proposed a convention of the States of Virginia. North and South 
Carolina, Georgia. Alabama, Tennessee, and Mississippi, to devise measures to obtain rehef from it. 
' By the law of 1816, for chartering the bank, the funds of the Unirci States were to be depos- 
ited with that institution, and to be withdrawn only by the Secretary of the Treasury. 

30 




4(36 THE CONFEDEKATION. [1829. 

those who suffered by their great enterprise had none to blame but themselves ; 
that those who traded on borrowed capital ought to break." The State banks 
received the government funds on deposit, and loaned freely. Confidence was 
gradually restored, and apparent general prosperity' returned. Now [1856], 
after the lapse of more than twenty years, the wisdom and forecaste of General 
Jackson, evinced by his distrust of the United States Bank, appears to be uni- 
versally acknowledged. The necessity for such an institution is no longer 
admitted, and its dangerous power, if wickedly exercised, may be plainly 
seen." 

Trouble again appeared on the southern borders of the Union. Toward the 
close of 1835, the Seminole Indians, in Florida, guided by their head sachem, 

Micanopy, and led by their principal chief, Osceola,' 
commenced a distressing warfare upon the frontier 
settlements of Florida. The cause of the outbreak 
was an attempt to remove them to the wilderness 
bepond the Mississippi. In his annual message in 
December, 1830, President Jackson recommended 
the devotion of a large tract of land west of the 
Mississippi, to the use of the Indian tribes yet re- 
maining east of that stream, forever. Congress 
passed laws in accordance with the proposition, and 
utujiULA. ^1^^ -work of removal commenced, first by the Chick- 

tasaws and Choctaws.* "\Yc have seen that trouble ensued with the Creeks and 
Cherokees,' and the Seminoles in East Florida were not disposed to leave their 
ancient domain. Some of the chiefs in council made a treaty in May, 1832, 
and agreed to remove ; but other chiefs, and the great body of the nation, did 
not acknowledge the treaty as binding. In 1834, the President sent General 
Wiley Thompson to Florida, to prepare for a forcible removal of the Seminoles, 
if necessary. The tone and manner assumed by Osceola, at that time, dis- 
pleased Thompson, and he put the chief in irons and in prison for a day. The 
proud leader feigned penitence, and was released. Then his wounded pride 
called for revenge, and fearfully he pursued it, as we shall observe presently. 
The war that ensued was a sanguinary one, ar. 1 almost four years elapsed before 
it was wholly terminated. Osceola, with all the cunning of a Tccumseh," and 
the heroism of a Philip,' was so successful in stratagem, and brave in conflict, 
that he baffled the skill and courage of the United States troops for a long time. 
He had agreed to fulfill treaty stipulations, ^ in December [1835 J, Imt instead 

' Page 470. 

"^ The course of President Jackson, toward the bank, was popular in many sections, but in the 
commercial States it caused a palpable diminution of the strength of the administration. This was 
shown by the elections in 1834. Many of his supporters joined the Opposition, and this combined 
force assumed the name of " Whigs' —the old party name of the Revolution — while the adminis- 
tration party adhered to the name of " Democrats." 

^ Page 468. " Page 30. ' Page 27. " Page 424. ' Page 124. 

* Osceola had promised General Thompson that the delivery of certain cattle and horses belong- 
ing to the Indians should be made during the first fortnight of December, 1835, and so certain was 
Thompson of the fulfilhnent of this stipulation, that he advertised the animals for sale. 



1837.] 



JACKSOX'S ADMINISTRATION. 



467 




SEAT OF SEMIXOLE AVAR. 



of compliance, he was then at the head of a war party, murdering the unsus- 
pecting inhabitants on the borders of the everglade haunts of the savages. 

At that time General Clinch was stationed at Fort Drane/ in the interior 
of Florida, and Major Dade was dispatched from Fort Brooke, at the head of 
Tampa Bay, with more than a hundred men, for his 
relief That young commander,' and all but four of 
his detachment, were massacred [Dec. 28, 1835] 
near Wahoo Swamp." On the same day, and only 
a few hours before, Osceola, and a small war party, 
killed and scalped General Thompson, and five of his 
friends, who were dining at a store a few yards from 
Fort King.** The assailants disappeared in the for- 
est before the deed was known at the fort. Two 
days afterward [Dec. 31], General Clinch and his 
troops had a battle with the Seminoles on the With- 
lacoochee; and in February [Feb. 29, 1836], General Gaines' was assailed 
near the same place," and several of his men were killed. The battle-ground 
is about fifty miles from the mouth of the river. 

The Creeks aided their brethren in Florida, by attacking white settlers 
within their domain,' in May, 1836. Success made them bold, and they at- 
tacked mail-carriers, stages, steamboats, and finally villages, in Georgia and 
Alabama, until thousands of white people were fleeing for their lives from 
place to place, before the savages. General Winfield Scott" was now in chief 
command in the South, and he prosecuted the war with .vigor. The Creeks were 
finally subdued ; and during the summer, several thousands of them were re- 
moved to their designated homes beyond the Mississippi. In October, Governor 
Call, of Georgia, marched-against the Seminoles with almost two thousand men. 
A detachment of upward of five hundred of these, had a severe contest [Xov. 
21] with the Indians at Wahoo Swamp, near the scene of Dade's massacre; yet, 
like all other engagements Avith the savages in their swampy fastnesses, neither 
party could claim a positive victory." The year [1886] closed with no prospect 



' About forty miles north-east from the mouth of the Withlacoochco Eivcr, and eight south- 
west from Orange Lake. 

^ Francis L. Dado was a native of Virginia. After the War of 1812-15, he was retained in the 
army, having risen from third heutenant to major. A neat monument has been erected to tho 
memory of himseh" and companions in dcatli, at West Point, on the Hudson. 

'' Near the upper waters of the Withlaeoochee, about fifty miles north from Fort Brooke. Threo 
of the four survivors soon died of tlieir wounds, and he who hved to tell the fearful narrative (Ran- 
som Clarke), afterward died from the effects of iiis injuries on tliat day. 

* On the soutliarn borders of Alachua county, about sixty miles south-west from St. Augustine. 
Osceola scalped [note 4, page 14] General Thompson with his own hands, and thus enjoyed liis re- 
venge for the indignity he had suffered. 

* Page 433. Edmund P. Gaines was born in Virginia in 1777, and entered the army in 1799. 
He was breveted a major-general in 1814, and presented by Congress with a gold medal for his gal- 
lantry at Fort Erie. He died in 1849. 

° South side of the river, in Dade county. Tho place where Gaines was assaulted is on tho 
north side, in Alachua county. ' Page 30. * Page 433. 

^ In tiiis warfare tlie American troops suffered dreadfully from the poisonous vapors of the 
swamps, the bites of venomous serpents, and the stings of insects. The Indians were inaccessible 
in their homes amid the morasses, for the white people could not follow them. 



468 THE CONFEDERATION. [1829. 

of peace, cither by treaty or by the subjugation of the Indians. The war con- 
tinued through the winter. Finally, after some severe encounters with the 
United States troops, several chiefs appeared in the camp of General Jessup' 
(who was then in supreme command) at Fort Dade,^ and on the 6th of March, 
1837, they signed a treaty which guarantied immediate peace, and the instant 
departure of the Indians to their new home beyond the Mississippi. But the 
lull was temporary. The restless Osceola caused the treaty to be broken ; and 
during the summer of 1837, many more soldiers perished in the swamps while 
pursuing the Indians. At length, Osceola, with several chiefs and seventy 
warriors, appeared [Oct. 21] in Jessup's camp under the protection of a flag. 
They were seized and confined ;' and soon afterward, the brave chief was sent 
to Charleston, where he died of a fever, while immured in Fort Moultrie.'* 
This was the hardest blow yet dealt upon the Seminoles ; but they continued to 
resist, notwithstanding almost nine thousand United States troops were in their 
territory at the close of 1837. 

On the 25th of December, a large body of Indians suflered a severe repulse 
on the northern border of Macaco Lake,^ from six hundred troops under Colonel 
Zachary Taylor.^ That officer had succeeded General Jessup, and for more than 
two years afterward, he endured every privation in efforts to bring the war to a 
close. In May, 1839, a treaty was made which appeared to terminate the war ; 
but murder and robberies continued, and it was not until 1842 that peace was 
finally secured. This Avar, which lasted seven years, cost the United States 
many valuable lives, and millions of treasure. 

In the autumn of 1836, the election of a successor to President Jackson 
took place, and resulted in the choice of Martin Yiin Buren, of New York. 
Energy had marked every step of the career of Jackson as Chief Magistrate, 
and at the close of his administration, the nation stood higher in the esteem of 
the world than it had ever done before. At the close of his first term, our 
foreign relations were very satisfactory, except with France. That government 
had agreed to pay about !^5.000.000, ]:)y instalments, as indemnification for 
French spoliations on American commerce, under the operation of the several 
decrees of Napoleon, from 1806 to 1811.' The French government did not 
promptly comply Avith the agreement, and the President assumed a hostile tone, 
which caused France to perform her duty. Similar claims against Portugal 

' Thomas S. Jessup was born in Virginia in 1188. He was a brave and useful officer during 
the war of 1812-15, and was retained in the army. He was breveted major-general in 1828, and 
was succeeded in command in Florida by Colonel Zachary Taylor, in 1838. He is now [1856] a 
resident of Wasliington city. 

^ On the head waters of the "Withlachoochee, about forty miles north-east from Fort Brooke, at 
the head of Tampa Bay. See map on page 467. 

3 General Jessup was much censured for this breach of faith and the rules of lionorable warfare. 
His excuse was the known treachery of Osceola, and a desire to put an end to bloodshed by what- 
ever means he mijjht be able to emplov. 

* On Sullivan's Island, upon the site of Fort Sullivan of the Revolution [page 249]. Near the 
entrance gate to the fort is a small monument erected to the memory of Osceola. 

* Sometimes called Big Water Lake. The Indian name is 0-ke-cho-bee, and by that title the 
battle is known. 

" The brave leader in the Mexican War [page 481], and afterward President of the United 
States. See page 498. ' See pages 400 to 407, inclusive. 



1837.] VAN BUREN'S ADMINISTRATION. 4^9 

were made, and payment obtained. A treaty of reciprocity had been concluded 
with Russia and Belgium, and everywhere the American fia;:; commanded the 
highest respect. Two new States (^Arkansas and Michigan) had been added to 
the Union. The original thirteen had doubled, and great activity prevailed in 
every part of the Republic. Satisfiiction with the administration generally pre- 
vailed, and it was understood that Van Buren would continue the policy of his 
predecessor, if elected. He received a large majority ; but the people, having 
failed to elect a Vice-President, the Senate chose Richard ]\I. Johnson, of Ken- 
tucky, who had been a candidate with Van Buren, to fill that station. 

Much excitement was produced, and bitter feelings were engendered, toward 
President Jackson, by his last official act. A circular was issued from the 
Treasury department on the 11th of July, 1836, requiring all collectors of the 
public revenue to receive nothing but gold and silver in payment. This was 
intended to check speculations in the public lands, but it also bore heavily 
upon every kind of business. The ''specie circular" was denounced; and so 
loud was the clamor, that toward the close of the session in 1837, both Houses 
of Congress adopted a partial repeal of it. Jackson refused to sign the bill, 
and by keeping it in his possession until after the adjournment of Congress, 
prevented it becoming a law. On the 4th of March, 1837, he retired from pub- 
lic life, to enjoy that repose which an exceedingly active career entitled him to. 
He was then seventy years of age. 



CHAPTER X. 

VAN BUREN'S ADMINISTRATION. '[1837 — 1841.] 

Martin Van Buren,' the eighth President of the United States, seemed 
to stand, at the time of his inauguration — on the 4th of March, 1837 — at the 
opening of a new era. All of his predecessors in the high office of Chief 
Magistrate of the Republic, had been descended of Britons, and were engaged 
in the old struggle for Independence Van Buren was of Dutch descent, and 
was born after the great conflict had ended, and the birth of the nation had 
occurred. The day of his inauguration was a remarkably pleasant one. Seated 
by the side of the venerable Jackson, in a phaeton made from the Avood of the 
frigate Constitution, which had been presented to the President by his political 



' Martin Van Buren was bom at Kinderhook, Columbia county, New York, in December, 1782. 
He clios8 the profession of law. In 1815, he became Attorney-Oeneral of his native State, and in 
182S was elected Governor of the same. Having served his country in the Senate of the United 
States, he was appointed minister to England in 1831. and was elected Vice-President of the 
United States in the autumn of 1832. Since his retirement from the presidency in 1841, Mr. Van 
Buren has spent a greater portion of his time on his estate in his native town. He visited Europe 
at the close of 18,53, and was the first of the chief magistrates of the Republic who crossed the 
Atlantic after their term of office had expired. Ex-Prosidcnt Fillmore followed his example in 
1855, and spent several months abroad. Mr. Van Buren is still [December, 1856] Hving, at the 
ripe age of seventy-four years. His residence is Kinderhook, New York. 



470 THE CONFEDERATION". 



[1831. 



friends iu New York, he was escorted from the presidential mansion to the 
capitol hy a bodj of infantry and cavahy, and an immense assemblage of citi- 
zens. Upon a rostrum, erected on the ascent to the eastern portico of the cap- 
itol, he delivered his inaugural address, and took the prescribed oath of oflfice, 
administered by Chief Justice Tancj.' 




r>. 



At the moment when jMr. Van Buren entered the presidential mansion as 
its occupant, the business of the country was on the verge of a terrible convul- 
sion and utter prostration. The distressing effects of the removal of the public 
funds from the United States Bank,= in 1833 and 1834, and the operations of 
the "specie circular," ' had disappeared, in a measure, but as the remedies for 
the evil were superficial, the cure was only apparent. The chief remedy 
had been the free loaning of the public money to individuals by the State 
deposit banks ;* but a commercial disease was thus produced, more disastrous 
than the panic of 1833-34. A sudden expansion of the paper currency 
was the result. The State banks which accepted these deposits, supposed 
they would remain undisturbed until the government should need them 
for its use. Considering them as so much capital, they loaned their own 
funds freely. But in January, 1836. Congress authorized the Secretary of the 
Treasury to distiibute all the public funds, except five millions of dollars, 
among the several States, according to their representation. The funds were 

' He appointed John Forsyth Secretary of State; Levi W»odburr. Secretary of the Treasury; 
Joel R. Poinsett, Secretary of "War; Mahlon Dickinson, Secretary of the Navy; Amos Kendall, 
Postmaster-General ; and Benjamin F. Butler. Attorney-General. All of them, except Mr. Poinsett, 
held their respective offices under President .Jackson. 

" Page 465. ^ Pago 469. « Page 46G. 



1841.] VAN BUREN'S ADMINISTRATION. ' 47^ 

accordingly taken from the deposit banks, after the 1st of January, 1837, and 
these banks being obliged to curtail their loans, a serious pecuniary embarrass- 
ment was produced. The immediate consequences of such multiplied facilities 
for obtaining bank loans, Avere an immensely increased importation of foreign 
goods, inordinate stimulation of all industrial pursuits and internal improve- 
ments, and the operation of a spirit of speculation, especially in real estate, 
which assumed the features of a mania, in 1836. A hundred cities were 
founded, and a thousand villages were "laid out" on broad sheets of paper, and 
made the basis of vast money transactions. Borrowed capital Avas thus diverted 
from its sober, legitimate uses, to the fostering of schemes as unstable as water, 
and as unreal in their fancied results as dreams of fairy-land. Overtrading 
and speculation, which had relied for support upon continued bank loans, was 
suddenly checked by the necessary bank contractions, on account of the removal 
of the government funds from their custody ; and during ]\Iarch and April, 
1837, there were mercantile failures in the city of New York alone, to the 
amount of more than a hundred millions of dollars.' Fifteen months before 
[December, 1835], jiroperty to the amount of more than twenty millions of 
dollars had been destroyed by fire in the city of New York, when five hundred 
and twenty-nine buildings Avere consumed. The effects of these failures and 
losses Avere felt to the remotest borders of the Union, and credit and con- 
fidence Avere destroyed. 

Early in May, 1837, a deputation from the merchants and Ijankers of New 
Y'ork, Avaited upon the President, and solicited him to defer the collection of 
duties on imported goods, rescind the "specie circular," and to call an extra- 
ordinary session of Congress to adopt relief measures. The President declined 
to act on their petitions. When his determination Avas known, all the banks 
in NcAV York suspended specie payments [May 10, 1837], and their example 
was speedily folloAved in Boston, Providence, Hartford, Albany, Philadelphia, 
Baltimore, and in smaller toAvns throughout the country. On the IGth of jMay 
the Legislature of Ncav Y'ork passed an act, authorizing the suspension of 
specie payments for one year. The measure embarrassed the general gOA-ern- 
ment, and it Avas unable to obtain gold and silver to discharge its OAvn obliga- 
tions. The public good noAV demanded legislative relief, and an extraordinary 
session of Congress Avas convened by the President on the 4th of September. 
During a session of forty-three days, it did little for the general relief, except 
the passage of a bill authorizing the issue of treasury notes, not to exceed in 
amount ten millions of dollars." 

During the year 1837; the peaceful relations Avhich had long existed between 
the United States and Great Britain. Avcre somewhat disturbed by a revolution- 



* Tn two days, houses in New Orleans stopped payment, owing an ag^egato of twenty-seven 
millions of dollars; and in Boston one hundred and sixty-eight failures took plaeo in six mouths. 

- In his message to Congress at this session, the President proposed the establishment of an 
independent treasury, for the safe Icecping of the public funds, and their entire and total separation 
from banking institutions. This scheme met with vehement opposition. The bill passed the Sen- 
ate, but was lost in the House. It was debated at subsequent sessions, and finally becamo a law 
on the 4th of July, 1840. This is known as the Sub-Treasury Schtinc. 



472 THE CONFEDERATION. [1837. 

arj movement in Canada which, at one time, seemed to promise a separation of 
that province from the British crown. The agitation and the outbreak appeared 
simultaneously in Upper and Lower Canada. In the former province, the most 
conspicuous leader was William Lyon M'Kenzie, a Scotchman, of rare abilities 
as a political writer and an agitator, and a republican in sentiment ; and in the 
latter province, Louis Joseph Papineau, a large land-owner, and a very influ- 
ential man among the French population. The movements of the llevolution- 
ary party were Avell planned, but local jealousies prevented unity of action, and 
the scheme failed. It was esteemed a highly patriotic effort to secure independ- 
ence and nationality for the people of the Canadas, and, as in the case of Cuba, 
at a later period,' the warmest sympathies of the Americans were enlisted, 
especially at the North. Banded companies and individuals joined the rebels ;* 
and so general became this active sympathy on the northern frontier, that peace 
between the two governments was jeoparded. President Van Buren issued a 
proclamation, calling upon all persons engaged in the schemes of invasion of 
Canada, to abandon the design, and warning them to beware of the penalties 
that must assuredly follow such infractions of international laAvs, In 1838, 
General Scott was sent to the frontier to preserve order, and was assisted by 
proclamations of the Governor of New York. Yet secret revolutionary associ- 
ations, called "Hunter's Lodges," continued for a long time. For about four 
years, that cloud hung upon our northern horizon, when, in September, 1841, 
President Tyler issued an admonitory proclamation, specially directed to the 
members of the Hunter's Lodges, which prevented further aggressive move- 
ments. The leaders of the revolt were either dead or in exile, and quiet was 
restored. 

While this excitement was at its height, long disputes concerning the bound- 
ary between the State of Maine and the British province of New Brunswick, 
ripened into armed preparations for settling the matter by combat. This, too, 
threatened danger to the peaceful relations between the two governments. The 
President sent General Scott to the theater of the dispute, in the winter of 
1839, and by his wise and conciliatory measures, he prevented bloodshed, and 
produced quiet. The whole matter was finally settled by a treaty [August 20, 
1842], negotiated at Washington City, by Daniel Webster for the United 
States, and Lord Ashburton for Great Britain. The latter had been sent as 
special minister for the purpose. Besides settling the boundary question, this 
agreement, known as the Ashburton Treaty, provided for the final suppression 
of the slave-trade, and for the giving up of criminal fugitives from justice, in 
certain cases. 

A new presidential election now approached. On the 5th of May. 1840, a 

' Page 502. 

^ A party of Americans took possession of Navy Island, situated in the Niagara River about 
two miles above the Falls, and belonging to Canada. They numbered seven hundred strong, well 
provisioned, and provided with twenty pieces of cannon. They had a small steamboat named 
Caroline, to ply between Schlosser, on the American side, and Navy Island. On a dark night in 
December, 1837, a party of royalists from the Canada shore crossed over, cut the Caroline loose, 
set her on tire, and she went over the great cataract while in fuU blaze. It was believed that some 
persons were on board the vessel at the time. 



1841.] HARRISON'S AND TYLER'S ADMINISTRATION. 473 

national Democratic convention assembled at Baltimore, and unanimously nom- 
inated Mr. Van Buren for President. No nomination was made for Vice-Pres- 
ident, but soon afterward, Richard M. Johnson' and James K. Polk were 
selected as candidates for that office, in different States. A national Whi(£^ con- 
vention had been held at ] larrisburg, in Pennsylvania, on the 4th of December 
previous [1839 j, Avhen General William H. Harrison, of Ohio, the popular 
leader in the North- West, in the War of 1812,^ was nominated for President, 
and John Tyler, of Virginia, for Vice-President. Never, before, was the 
country so excited by an election, and never before was a presidential contest 
characterized by such demoralizing proceedings.' The government, under Mr. 
Van Buren, being held responsible by the opposition for the business depres- 
sion which yet brooded over the country, public speakers arjayed vast masses 
of the people against the President, and Harrison and Tyler were elected by 
overwhelming majorities. And now, at the close of the first fifty years of the 
Republic, the population had increased from three and a half millions, of all 
colors, to seventeen millions. A magazine writer of the day,^ in comparing 
several administrations, remarked that "The great events of Mr. Van Buren's 
administration, by which it will hereafter be known and designated, is the 
divorce of bank and State^ in the fiscal affairs of the Federal government, and 
the return, after half a century of deviation, to the original design of the Con- 
stitution."' 



CHAPTER XL 

HARRISON'S AND TYLER'S ADMINISTRATION. [1841—1845.] 

The city of Washington was thronged with people from every State in the 
Union, on the 4th of March, 1841, to witness the ceremonies of the inauguration of 
General William Henry Harrison,' the ninth President of the United States. He 



' Page 424 " Note 2, page 466. ^ Pages 416 to 424, inclusive. 

* Because General Harrison lived in the West, and his residence was associated with pioneer 
life, a log-caliin became the symbol of his party. These cabins were erected all over the countrj^, 
in which meetings were held ; and, as the hospitality of the old hero was symbolized by a barrel 
of cider, made free to all visiters or strangers, who " never found the latcli-string of his log-cabin 
drawn in," that beverage was dealt out unsparingly to all who attended the meetings in the cabins. 
These meetings were scenes of carousal, deeply injurious to all who participated in them, and 
especially to the young. Thousands of drunkards, in after years, dated tiieir departure from sobri- 
ety to the "Hard Cider" campaign of 1840. 

^ Democratic Revievj, April, 1840. 

" This is in allusion to the sub-treasury scheme. Mr. Tan Buren remarked to a friend, just 
previous to sending his message to Congress, in which he proposed that pl:in for collecting and 
keeping the public moneys : " We can not know how the immediate convulsion ma3' result ; but 
the people will, at all events, eventually come right, and posterity at least will do me justice. Bo 
the present issue for good or for evil, it is for posterity that T will write this message." 

' William Henry Harrison, son of one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, was 
bom near the banks of the James River, in Charles City county, Virginia, in February. 1773. He 
was educated at Hampden Sydney College, and was prepared, by studies, for a physician, but en- 
tered the army as ensign iu the United States artQlery, in 1791. He was Secretary of the North- 



474 



THE CONFEDERATION. 



[1841. 



was then an old man, luiving passed almost a month beyond the age of sixtj-eight 
years. Yet there Avas a vigor in his movements quite remarkable for one of 
that age, and who had passed through so many hardships and physical labors. 
From a platform over the ascent to the eastern portico of the Capitol, where 
Mr. Van Burcu delivered his inaugural address, General Harrison, in a clear 




///: }fr- f/'a-^^^^^^i^ 



voice, read his. lie was frequently interrupted by cheers during the reading. 
When it was concluded, Chief Justice Taney administered the oath of office, and 
three successive cannon peals announced the fact that the Republic had a new 
President. Harrison immediately nominated his cabinet officers.' and these 
were all confirmed by the Senate, then in session. 

President Harrison's inaugural speech was well received by all parties, and 
the dawn of his administration gave omens of a brighter day for the country. 
When his Address went over the laud, and the wisdom of his choice of cabinet 



western Territory in 1791 ; and at tlio age of twenty-six years, was elected the first delegate to 
Congress from that domain. He was afterward appointed governor of Indiana Territory, and was 
very active during the War of 1812. Seepages 416 to 42-1 inclusive. At its close he retired to 
his farm at North Bend, on tlie banks of the Oliio. He served in the national council for four 
years [1824 to 1828] as United States senator, when he was appointed minister to Colombia, one of 
the South American republics. He was finally raised to the liighest post of honor in the nation. 
His last disease was pneumonia, or bilious pleurisy, which terminated his life in a few days. His 
last words were (thinking he was addressing liis successor in office): "Sir, I wish you to under- 
stand the principles of the government. I wish them carried out. I ask nothing more." 

' Daniel Webster, Secretary of State ; Thomas Ewing, Secretary of tlie Treasury ; John Bell, 
Secretary of War ; George p]. Badger, Secretary of the Na\-y ; Francis Granger, Postmaster-Gen- 
eral; and J. J. Crittenden, Attorney-General. 



1845.] TYLER'S ADMINISTRATION. 475 

counselors ^vas known, prosperity -was lialF restored, for confidence was re- 
enthroned in the commercial world. But all the hopes which centered in tho 
new President were soon extinguished, and the anthems of the inaugural day 
were speedily changed to solemn requiems. Precisely one month after he uttered 
his oath of office, the new President died. That sad event occurred on the 4th 
day of April, 1841. Before he had fairly placed his hand upon the machinery of 
the government, it was paralyzed, and the only official act of general importance 
performed by President Harrison during his brief administration, was the issu- 
ing of a proclamation, on the 17th of March, calling an extraordinary session 
of Congress, to commence at the close of the following May, to legislate upon 
the subjects of finance and revenue.' 

In accordance with the provisions of the Constitution, the Vice-President 
became the official successor of the deceased President : and on the Gth of April 
the oath of office was administered to 

JOHN T Y L E R .= 

lie retained the cabinet appointed by President IlarriLon until September fol- 
lowing, when all but the Secretary of State resigned.^ 

The extraordinary session of Congress called by President. Harrison, com- 
menced its session on the appointed day [May 31, 1841], and continued until 
the 13th of September following. The Sub-Treasury act' was repealed, and a 
general Bankrupt law was enacted. This humane law accomplished a material 
benefit. Thousands of honest and enterprising men had been crushed by the 

' The predecessors of Harrison had called extraordinary sessions of Congress, as follows: Jolin 
Adams, on the 16th of Ma.y, 1797 ; Thomas Jefferson, on the 17t!i of October, 1808, to provide for 
carrying the treaty of Louisiana into effect ; James Madison, on the 23d of May, 1809, and also on 
the 25th of Maj^, 1813; and Martin Van Buren, on the 4th of September, 1837. 

" On the 4tli of April, the members of Harrison's cabinet dispatched Fletcher Webster, chief 
clerk in the State Department, with a letter to Mr. Tyler, announcing the death of the President. 
Mr. Tyler was then at Williamsburg. So great was the dispatch, both by the messenger and tho 
Vice-President, that the latter arrived in Washington on Tuesda.y n!orning, the 6th of April, at four 
o'clock. As doubts might arise concerning the validity of his oath of office as Vice-President, while 
acting as President, Mr. Tyler took the oath anew, as Chief Magistrate, before Judge Cranch, of 
Washington city. On the following day he attended tho funeral of President Harrison. John 
Tyler was born in Charles City county, Virginia, in March, 1790. He was so precocious that he 
entered William and Mary College at the ago of twelve years. He graduated at the ago of seven- 
teen, studied law, and at nineteen he was a practicing lawyer. At the age of twenty he was 
elected a member of tho Virginia Legislature, where he served for several years. He was elected 
to Congress to fill a vacancy caused b}' death, in 1816, when only twenty-six years of ago. He wa.s 
there again in 1819. In 1825 he was elected governor of Virginia. Ho was afterward sent to tho 
Senate of the United States ; and he was mucli in public life until the close of his Presidential ca- 
reer. Since then he has lived in retirement at Sherwood Forest, his pleasant estate, a few miles 
from Ciiarles City court-house. 

^ He then appointed Walter Forward, Secretaiy of the Treasury; John C. Spencer, Secretary 
of War; Abel P. Upshur, Secretary of tho Navy;" Charles A. Wickliffe, Postmaster-General; and 
Hugh S. Legare, Attorney-General". Mr. Tyler had tho misfortune to lose three of his cabinet of- 
iiccrs, by death, in the course of a few months. Mr. Legare accompanied the President to Boston, 
on tho occasion of celebrating the completion of the Bunker Hill mommient [page 235], in June, 
1843, and di xl there On the 2Sth of February following, the bursting of a gun on board the steam- 
ship Priive(o)), while on an excursion upon the Potomac, killed Mr. Upsluir, then Secretary of State ; 
Mr. Gilmer, Secretary of the Navy; and several otlior distinguishtd gentlemen. The President and 
many ladies were on board. Among the killed was Mr. Gardiner, of the State of New York, 
whoso daughter the President soon afterward married. * Note 2, page 471. 



476 



THE CONFEDERATION. 



[1841. 



recent business revulsion, and were so laden vfith debt as to be hopelessly 
(•Lained to a narrow sphere of action. The law relieved them ; and while it 
bore heavily upon the creditor class, for a while, its operations were beneficent 
and useful. When dishonest men began to make it a pretense for cheating, it 
was repealed. But the chief object sought to be obtained during this session, 




namely, the chartering of a Bank of the United States, was not achieved. Two 
separate bills' for that purpose were vetoed' by the President, who, like Jack- 
son, thought be perceived great evils to be apprehended from the workings of 
such an institution. The course of the President was vehemently censured by 
the party in power, and the last veto led to the dissolution of his cabinet. Mr. 
Webster patriotically remained at his post, for great public interests would have 
suffered by his withdraAval, at that time. 

The year 1842 (second of Mr. Tyler's administration) was distinguished by 
the return of the United States Exploring Expedition ; the settlement of the 
North-eastern boundary (piestion; essential modifications of the tariff; and 
domestic difficulties in Rhode Island. The exploring expedition, commanded by 
Lieutenant Wilkes, of the United States navy, had been sent, several years be- 
fore, to traverse and explore the great southern ocean. It coasted along what 



' One was passed on the 16th of Aufcust, 1841 : the other, modified so as to meet the Presi- 
dent's objections, as it was behoved, passed September 9th. * Note 6, page 462. 



1845.] TYLER'S ADMINISTRATION. 477 

is supposed to be an Antarctic continent, for seventeen hundred miles in the 
vicinity of latitude OG degrees south, and between longitude 96 and 154 degrees 
east. The expedition brought home a great many curiosities of island human 
life, and a large number of fine specimens of natural history, all of ■which arc 
now [1830] iu the custody of the National Institute, Patent Office building, in 
Washington city. The expedition made a voyage of about ninety thousand 
miles, e(|ual to almost four times the circumference of the globe. The modifi- 
cations of the tariff were important. By the compromise act of 1832,' duties 
on foreiiiu goods were to reach the minimum of reduction at the close of 1842, 
when the tariff would only provide revenue, not lyrotcctioJi to mainifdctures, 
like that of 1828.- The latter object appeared desirable ; and by an act passed 
on the 29th of June, 1842, high tariffs were imposed on many foreign articles. 
The President vetoed it ; but another tarifi" bill, less o1)jectionable. received 
his assent on the 9th of August. 

The difficulties in Rhode Island originated in a movement to adopt a 
State Constitution of government, and to abandon the old charter given by 
Charles the Second, ° in 1663, under which the people had been ruled for one 
hundred and eighty years. Disputes arose concerning the proper method to be 
pursued in making the change, and these assumed a serious aspect. Two par- 
ties were formed, known, respectively, as the "suffrage,'' or radical party; the 
other as the " law and order," or conservative party. Each formed a Constitu- 
tion, elected a governor and legislature,^ and finally armed [May and June, 
1843] in defense of their respective claims. The State was on the verge of 
civil war, and the aid of Federal troops had to be invoked, to restore quiet and 
order. A free Constitution, adopted by the "law and order"" party in Novem- 
ber, 1842, to go into operation on the first Tuesday in May, 1843, was sus- 
tained, and became the law of the land. 

During the last year of President Tyler" s administration, the country was 
much agitated by discussions concerning the proposed admission of the independ- 
ent republic of Texas, on our south-west frontier, as a State of the Union. 
The proposition was warmly opposed at the North, because the annexation 
would increase the area and political strength of slavery, and lead to a war with 
Mexico.^ A treaty for admission, signed at Washington on the 12th of April, 



" Pago 464. = Page 459. = Page 158. 

* The '■ suffrage" part}-- elected Thomas W. Dorr, governor, and the " law and order" party 
chose Samuel "W. King for chief magistrate. Dorr was finally arrested, tried for and convicted of 
treason, and sentenced to imprisonment for life. The excitement having passed away, in a meas- 
ure, he was released in June, 1845, but was deprived of all the civil rights of a citizen. These dis- 
abilities were removed in the autumn of 1853. 

' Texas was a part of the domain of that ancient Mexico conquered by Cortez [page 43]. In 
1824, Mexico became a republic under Generals Victoria and Santa Anna, and was divided into 
States united by a Federal Constitution. One of these was Texas, a territory wiiich was origin- 
ally claimed by the United States as a part of Louisiana, purchased [page 300] from France in 
1803, but ceded to Spain in 1820. In 1821-22, a colony from the United States, under Stephen 
F. Austin, made a settlement on both sides of the Colorado River: and the Spanish government 
tiivoring immigration thither, caused a rapid increase in the population. There were ten thousand 
Americans in that province in 1833. Santa Anna became military dictator ; and the people of 
Texas, unwilling to submit to his arbitrary rule, rebelled. A war ensued ; and on the 2d of March. 
1836. a convention declared Texas independent. Much bloodshed occurred afterward : but a final 



478 THE CONFEDERATION. [1845. 

1844, was rejected by the Senate on tlie 8th of June following. To the next 
Congress the i)roposition was presented in the form of a joint resolution, and 
received the concurrence of both Houses on the 1st of March, 1845, and 
the assent of the President on the same day. This measure had an important 
bearing upon the Presidential election in 1844. It became more and more pop- 
ular with the people throughout the Union, and James K. Polk, of Tennessee, 
who was pledged in favor of the measure, was nominated for the office of Pres- 
ident of the United States, by the National Democratic Convention, assembled 
at Baltimore on the 27th of May, 1844. George M. Dallas was nominated for 
Vice-President at the same time ; and in November following, they were both 
elected. The opposing candidates were Henry Clay and Theodore Frelinghuy- 
sen. The last important official act of President Tyler was the signing, on the 
3d of March, 1845, of the bill for the admission of Florida and Iowa into the 
Union of States. 



CHAPTER XII. 

POLK'S ADMINISTRATION. [1845 — 184 9.] 

Never before had so large a concourse of people assembled at the Federal 
city, to Avitness the inauguration of a new Chief Magistrate of the nation, as on the 
4th of March, 1845, when James Knox Polk, ' of Tennessee, the tenth President of 
the United States, took the oath of office, administered by Chief Justice Taney. 
The day was unpleasant. A lowering morning preceded a rainy day, and the 
pleasures of the occasion were marred thereby. The address of the President, 
on that occasion, clearly indicated that energetic policy which distinguished his 
administration. On the day of his inauguration he nominated his cabinet 
officers,' and the Senate l>cing in session, immediately confirmed them. 

Among the most important topics which claimed the attention of the admin- 
istration, were the annexation of Texas, and the claims of Great Britain to a 
large portion of the vast territory of Oregon, on the Pacific coast. The former 



battle at San Jacinto, in ■which the Tcxans were led by General Houston, one of the present. [1856] 
United States senators from Texas, vindicated the position the people had taken, and terminated 
the strife. Texas remained an independent republic until its admission into our Federal Union in 
1845. 

' James K. Polk was born in Mccklcnliurg county, North Carolina, in November, 1T95. While 
ho was a child, his father settled in Tennessee; and "the lirst appearance of young; I'olk in public 
lif», was as a member of the Tennessee Legislature, in 1823. He had been"^ admitted to the bar 
three years before, but public life kept him from the practice of his profession, except at intervals. 
He was elected to Congress in 1825, and was in that body almost continuallj- until elevated to the 
Presidential chair. lie was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives in 1835, and contin- 
ued in the performance of the duties of that office during five consecutive sessions. He was elected 
governor cf Tennessee in 1839, and President of the United States in 1844. He retired to Ills 
residence, near Knoxville, Tennessee, at the close of his term, in 1849, and died there in June of 
the same year. 

- James Buchanan, Secretary of State; Robert J. Walker, Secretary of the Treasury; William 
L. Marcy, Secretary of War; George Bancroft, Secretary of the Navy; Cave Johnson, Postmaster- 
General; and John Y. Mason, Attorney-General. 



1840.] 



POLK'S ADMINISTRATION. 



479 



demanded and received the earliest consideration. On the last day of his offi- 
cial term, President Tyler had sent a messenger to the Texan Government, 
■vvith a copy of the joint resolutions of the American Congress,' in favor of an- 
nexation. Tlijse were considered by a convention of delegates, called for the 
purpose of forming a State Constitution for Texas. That body approved of the 
measure, by resolution, on the 4th of July, 18-1 '). On that day Texas became 




one of the States of our Confederation. The other momentous subject (the 
claims of Great Britain to certain portions of Oregon), also received prompt 
attention. That vast territory, between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific, 
had been, for some time, a subject of dispute between the two countries.' In 
1818, it was mutually agreed that each nation should cijually enjoy the privileges 
of all the bays and harbors on the coast, for ten years. This agreement was re- 
newed in 1827, for an indefinite time, with the stipulation, that either party 
might rescind it by giving the other party twelve months' notice. Such notice 



^ TliG communication was mado through A. J. Donelson, the " American" candidate for Vice- 
President of the United States, in 185G, who was our Charge d' Affaires to the Texan Government. 

^ Captain Grey, of Boston, entered the mouth of the Columbia River in 1792, and Captains 
Lewis and Clarke explored that region, from the Rocky Mountains westward, in 1804-5. In 1811, 
the late J. J. Astor established a trading station at the mouth of the Columbia River. The British 
doctrine, always practiced liy them, that the entrance of a vessel of a civilized nation into the 
mouth of a river, gives title, by the right of discovery, to the territory watered by that river and 
its tributaries, clearly gave Oregon to 54 degrees 40 mmutes, to the Uiiitcd States, for the dis- 
covery of Captain Grey, in 1792, was not disputed. 



480 THE CONFEDERATION". [1845. 

was given hy the United States in 184G, and the boundary was then fixed bj 
treaty, made at Washington city, in June of that year. Great Britain claimed 
the whole territory to 54 40' north latitude, the right to which was disputed 
by the United States. The boundary line was finally fixed at latitude 49''; 
and in 1848, a territorial government was established. In INIarch, 1853, Ore- 
gon was divided, and the northern portion was made a separate domain, by the 
title of Washington Territory. 

The annexation of Texas, as had been predicted, caused an immediate rup- 
ture between the United States and Mexico ; for the latter claimed Texas as a 
part of its territory, notwithstanding its independence had been acknowledged 
by the United States, England, France, and other governments. Soon after 
[March 6, 1845] Congress had adopted the joint resolution for the admission 
of that State into the Union,' General Almonte, the Mexican minister at Wash- 
ington, formally protested against that measure, and demanded his passports. 
On the 4th of June following. General Herrera, President of Mexico, issued a 
proclamation, declaring the rights of Mexico, and his determination to defend 
them — by arms, if necessary. But, independent of the act complained of. there 
already existed a cause for serious disputes between the United States and. 
Mexico." Ever since the establishment of republican government by the latter, 
in 1824, it had been an unjust and injurious neighbor. Impoverished by civil 
wars, its authorities did not hesitate to replenish its Treasury by plundering 
American vessels in the Gulf of Mexico, or by confiscating the property of 
American merchants wdthin its borders. The United States government 
remonstrated in vain, until, in 1831, a treaty was formed, and promises of 
redress were made. But aggressions continued ; and in 1840, the aggregate 
amount of American property which had been appropriated by INIexicans, was 
more than six millions of dollars. The claim for this amount remained unset- 
tled^ when the annexation of Texas occurred [July 4, 1845], and peaceful 
relations between the two governments were suspended. 

The President being fully aware of the hostile feelings of the INIexicans, 
ordered [July] General Zachary Taylor,' then in command of troops in the 
South-West, to proceed to Texas, and take a position as near the Rio Grande,^ 
as prudence would allow\ This force, about fifteen hundred strong, was called 
the '-Army of Occupation,'" for the defense of Texas. At the same time, a 
strong squadron, under Commodore Conner, sailed for the Gulf of Mexico, to 
protect American interests there. General Taylor first landed on the 25th of 
July on St. Joseph's Island," and then embarked for Corpus Christi, a Mexican 

' Page 47 8. " Pronounced May-hee-co by the Spaniards. 

^ Commissioners appointed by the two governments to adjust these claims, met in 1840. The 
Mexican commissioners acknowledged two millions of dollars, and no more. In 1843 the whole 
amount was acknowledged by Mexico, and the payment was to be made in instalments of three 
hundred thousand dollars each. Only three of these instalments had been paid in 1845, and the 
Mexican government refused to decide whether the remainder should be settled or not. 

* Taylor's actual rank in the army list was only that of Colonel. He had been made a Brig- 
adier-General by brevet, for his good conduct in the Florida War [page 468]. A title by brevet is 
only honorary. Taylor held the idle of Brigadier-General, but received only the pay of a Colonel. 

* Circa*^ or Grand river. Also called Rio Bravo dd Norte — Brave North river. 

" There the flag of the United States was first displayed in power over Texas soil 



1849.] POLK'S ADMINISTRATION. 4g] 

village bejond the Nueces, and near its mouth. There he formed a camp 
[September, 1845], and remained during the succeeding autumn and winter. 
It was during the gathering of this storm of war on our south-western frontier, 
that the difficulties with Great Britain, concerning Oregon, occurred, which we 
have already considered. 

By a dispatch dated January 18, 1846, the Secretary of War ordered Gen- 
eral Taylor to advance from Corpus Christi to near the mouth of the Rio 
Grande, opposite the Spanish city of INIatamoras, because Mexican troops were 
then gathering in that direction, with the evident intention of invadinfr Texas. 
This was disputed territory between Texas and the Mexican province of Tamau- 
lipas ; and when, on the 25th of INIarch, he encamped at Point Isabel, on the coast, 
about twenty-eight miles from Matamoras, General Taylor was warned by the 
Mexicans that he was upon foreign soil. Regardless of menaces, he left his stores 
at Point Isabel, under jNIajor jMonroe and four hundred and fifty men, and with thc^ 
remainder of his army advanced [March 28, 1846] to the bank of the Rio Grande, 
where he established a fortified camp, and commenced the erection of a fort.* " 

President Herrera's desire for peace with the United States made him un- 
popular, and the Mexican people elected General Paredes" to succeed him. 
That officer immediately dispatched General Ampudia' with a large force, to 
Matamoras, to drive the Americans beyond the Nueces. Ampudia arrived on 
the 11th of April, 1846, and the next day he sent a letter to General Taylor, 
demanding his withdrawal within twenty-four hours. Taylor refused compli- 
ance, and continued to strengthen his camp. Ampudia hesitated ; and on the 
24th of that month he was succeeded in command by the more energetic 
Arista,* the commander-in-chief of the northern division of the army of Mexico, 
whose reported reinforcements made it probable that some decisive action would 
soon take place. This change of affiiirs was unfavorable to the Americans, and 
the situation of the " Army of Occupation" was now becoming very critical. 
Parties of armed ^Mexicans had got between Taylor and his stores at Point 
Isabel, and had cut off all inter-communication. Arista's army was hourlv 
gathering strength; and already an American reconnoitering party, under 
Captain Thornton,' had been killed or captured [April 24] on the Texas side of 
the Rio Grande. This was the first blood shed in 

THE WAR A^^ITH MEXICO. 

When he had nearly completed the fort opposite Matamoras, General Tay- 
lor hastened [May 1], with his army, to the relief of Point Isabel, which was 
menaced by a large Mexican force" collected in his rear. He left a regiment 

' It -^vas named Fort Brown, in honor of Major Brown, the ofticer in command there. It was 
erected under the superintendence of Captain Mansfield, and was lar^e enough to accommodate 
about two thousand men. - Pronounced Pa-ray-dhes. 

^ Pronounced Am-poo-dhee-ah. * Pronounced Ah-rees-tah. 

* General Taylor had been informed that a body of Jlexican troops were crossing the Rio 
Grande, above his encampment, and he sent Captain Thornton, with sixty dragoons, to reconnoitre. 
They were surprised and captured. Sixteen Americans were killed, and Captain Thornton escaped 
by an extraordinary leap of his horse. 

' General Taylor was apprised of this force of fifteen hundred Mexicans, by Captain "Walker, 

31 



4.32 THK CONFEDERATION. [1845. 

of infantry and two companies of artillery, under Major Brown (in whose 
honor, as we have just observed, the fortification was named), to defend the 
fort, and reached Point Isabel the same day, without molestation. This 
departure produced great joy in Matamoras, for the Mexicans regarded it as a 
cowardly retreat. Preparations were immediately made to attack Fort Brown ; 
and on the morning of the 3d of May [184(5], a battery at Matamoras opened 
a heavy cannonade and bombardment upon it, while quite a large body of 
troops crossed the river, to attack it in the rear. General Taylor had left 
orders that, in the event of an attack, and aid being required, heavy signal-guns 
should be fired at the fort. For a long time the little garrison made a noble 
defense, and silenced the Mexican battery ; but when, finally, the enemy gath- 
ered in strength in the rear, and commenced planting cannons, and the heroic 
Major Brown was mortally wounded,^ the signals were given [May 6], and 
Taylor prepared to march for the Rio Grande. He left Point Isabel on the 
cvenino- of the 7th, with a little more than two thousand men, having been 
reinforced by Texas volunteers, and marines from the American fleet then 
blockading the mouth of the Rio Grande. At noon, the next day [May 8], 
they discovered a Mexican army, under Arista, full six thousand strong, drawn 
up in battle array upon a portion of a prairie flanked by ponds of water, and 
beautified by trees, which gave it the name of Palo Alto. As soon as his men 
could take refreshments, Taylor formed his army, and pressed forward to the 
attack. For five hours a hot contest was maintained, when, at twilight, the 
Mexicans gave way and fled, and victory, thorough and complete, was with the 
Americans. It had been an afternoon of terrible excitement and fatigue, and 
when the firing ceased, the victors sank exhausted upon the ground. They had 
lost, in killed and wounded, fifty-three ;' the Mexicans lost about six hundred. 
At two o'clock in the morning of the 9th of May, the deep slumbers of the 
little army were broken hj a summons to renew the march for Fort Brown. 
They saw no traces of the enemy until toward evening, when they discovered 
them strongly posted in a ravine, called Resaca de la Palma,^ drawn up in 
battle order. A shorter, but bloodier conflict than that at Palo Alto, the pre- 
vious day, ensued, and again the Americans were victorious. They lost, in 
killed and wounded, one hundred and ten ; the Mexican loss was at least one 
thousand. General La Yega^ and a hundred men were made prisoners, and 

the celebrated Texas Ranger, who had been employed by Major Monroe to keep open a communi- 
cation between Point Isabel and Taylor's camp. Walker had fought them with liis single company, 
armed with revolving pistols, and after kilHng thirty, escaped, and, with six of his men, reached 
Taylor's camp. 

^ He lost a leg by the bursting of a bomb-shell [note 2, page 296], and died on the 9th of May. 
He was born in Massachusetts in 1788 ; was in the war of 1812 ; was promoted to Major in 1843 ; 
and was tifty-eight years of age when he died. 

^ Among the fatally wounded was Captain Page, a native of Maine, who died on the 12th of 
July following, at the age of forty-nine years. Also, Major Ringgold, commander of the Flying 
Artillery, who died at Point Isabel, four days afterward, at the age of forty-six years. 

' Pronounced Ray-sah-kah day la Pal-mah, or Dry River of Palms. Tlie ravine is supposed to 
be the bed of a dried-up stream. The spot is on the northerly side of the Rio Grande, about three 
miles from Matamoras. In this engagement, Taylor's force was about one thousand seven hundred ; 
Arista had been reinforced, and had about seven thousand men. 

* Lay Yay-goh. He was a brave officer, and was captured by Captain May, who, rising in his 



1849.] POLK'S ADMINISTRATION. 433 

eight pieces of cannon, three standards, and a quantity of military stores, were 
captured. Tlie Mexican army was completely broken up. Arista saved him- 
self by solitary flight, and made his way alone across the Rio Grande. After 
sufiering a bombardment for one hundred and sixty hours, the garrison at Fort 
Brown were relieved, and the terrified Mexicans were trembling for the safety 
of Matamoras. 

When intelligence of the first bloodshed, in the attack upon Captain Thorn- 
ton and his party, on the 24th of April, and a knowledge of the critical situa- 
tion of the little Army of Occupation, reached New Orleans, and spread over 
the land, the whole country was aroused ; and before the battles of Palo Alto 
and Resaca do la Palma [May 8, 9] were known in the States, Congress had 
declared [May 11, 1846] that, ''by the act of the Republic of Mexico, a state 
of war exists between that government and the United States ;" authorized the 
President to raise fifty thousand volunteers, and appropriated ten millions of 
dollars [May 13] toward carrying on the contest. Within two days, the Sec- 
retary of War and General Scott' planned [^lay 15] a campaign, greater in the 
territorial extent of its proposed operations, than any recorded in history. A 
fleet was to sweep around Cape Horn, and attack the Pacific coast of Mexico ; 
an " Army of the West" was to gather at Fort Leavenworth," invade New 
Mexico, and co-operate with the Pacific fleet; and an "Army of the Center" 
was to rendezvous in the heart of Texas,^ to invade Old Mexico from the north. 
On the 23d of the same month [May], the Mexican government made a formal 
declaration of war against the United States. 

When news of the two brilliant victories reached the States, a thrill of joy 
went throughout the land, and bonfires, illuminations, orations, and the thunder 
of cannons, were seen and heard ill all the great cities. In the mean while, 
General Taylor was in Mexico, preparing for other brilliant victories.'' He 
crossed the Rio Grande, drove the Mexican troops from ]Matamoras, and took 
possession of that town on the 18th of jMay. There he remained until the close 
of August, receiving orders from government, and reinforcements, and prepar- 
ing to march into the interior. The first division of his army, under General 
Worth, ^ moved toward Monterey^ on the 20th. Taylor, Avith the remainder (in 
all, more than six thousand men), followed on the 3d of September; and on 
the 9th, the whole army^ encamped within three miles of the doomed city, then 

stirrups, shouted, "Remember your regiment! Men, follow I" and, with his dragoons, rushed for- 
ward in the face of a heavy fire from a battery, captured La Vega, killed or dispersed the gunners, 
and took possession of the cannons. * Page 485. 

"^ A strong United States post on the southern bank of the Missouri River, on the borders of 
the Great Plains. These plains extend to the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains. 

^ At San Antonia de Bexar, the center of Austin's settlement [note 5, page 477], south of the 
Colorado river. 

* On the 30th of May he was rewarded for his skill and bravery hj a commission as Major- 
General, by brevet. See note 4, page 480. 

* William J. Worth was born in Columbia county, New York, in 1794. ITe was a gallant soldier 
during the War of 1812-15; was retained in the army, and for his gallantry at Monterey, was 
made a Major-General by brevet, and received the gift of a sword from Congress. He was of great 
service during the whole war with Mexico. He died in Texas in May, 1849. 

^ Pronounced Mon-tar-ray. It is the capital of New Leon. 

' The principal officers with General Taylor, at this time, were Generals Worth, Quitman, 
Twiggs, Butler, Henderson, and Hamer. 



484 THE CONFEDEEATION. [1845. 

defended hj General Ampudia,' with more than nine thousand troops. It was 
a strong walled town, at the foot of the great Sierra Madre, well fortified by 
both nature and art, and presented a formidable obstacle in the march of the 
victor toward the interior. But having secured the Saltillo road,' by which 
supplies for the Mexicans in Monterey were to be obtained, General Taylor 
commenced a sJe<,'e on the 21st of September. The conflict continued almost 
four days, a part of the time within the streets of the city, where the carnage 
was dreadful. Ampudia surrendered the town and garrison on the fourth day' 
[September 24], and leaving General Worth in command there, General Tay- 
lor encamped at Walnut Springs, three miles distant, and awaited further 
orders from his government.'^ 

When Conc^ress made the declaration of war, and authorized the raising of 
an army from the great body of the people. General WooP was commissioned 
to muster and prepare for service, the gathering volunteers. He performed 
this duty so promptly, that by the middle of July, tAvelve thousand of them 
had been inspected, and mustered into service. Nine thousand of them were 
sent to the Rio Grande, to reinforce General Taylor, and the remainder 
repaired to Bexar," in Texas, where they were disciplined by General Wool, in 
person, preparatory to marching into the province of Chihuahua,' in the heart 
of Mexico. Wool went up the Rio Grande with about three thousand men, 
crossed the river at Presidio, and on the last day of October, reached Monclova, 
seventy miles north-west from IMonterey. His kindness to the people won their 
confidence and esteem, and he was regarded as a friend. There he was informed 
of the capture of Monterey, and guided by the advice of General Taylor, he 
abandoned the project of penetrating Chihuahua, and marched to the fertile dis- 
trict of Parras, in Coahuila, where he obtained ample supplies for his own and 
Taylor's forces. 

The armistice" at IMonterey ceased on the 13th of November, by order of 
the United States government. General Worth, with nine hundred men, took 
possession of Saltillo [November 15, 184G], the capital of Coahuila," and Gen- 
eral Taylor, leaving General Butler in command at Monterey, marched for 
Victoria, the capital of Tamaulipas, with the intention of attacking Tampico, 

> Page 481. 

" This road passed through the mountains along the San Juan river, and is the only commu- 
nication between Monterey and the fertile provinces of Coahuila and Durango. The command of 
this road was obtained after a severe contest with Mexican cavalry, on the 2bth of May, by a party 
under General Worth. 

^ The Mexican soldiers were permitted to march out with the honors of war; and, being short 
of provisions, and assured that Santa Anna, now at the head of the Mexicans, desired peace. Gen- 
eral Taylor agreed to a cessation of hostilities for eight weeks, if permitted by his government. 

* The Americans lost in killed, wounded, and missing, five hundred and sixty-one. The 
number lost by the Mexicans was never ascertained, but it was supposed to be more than one 
thousand. 

^ John Ellis "Wool is a native of New York. He entered the army in 1812, and soon rose to 
the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, for gallant conduct on Queenstown Heights [page 413]. He has 
belonged to the army ever since. He was breveted brigadier in 1826, and for gallant conduct at 
Buena Vista, in 1847, was breveted Major-General. 

* Austin's settlement. See note 5, page 477. ' Pronounced Chee-wah-wah. 

* The agreement for a cessation of hostilities is so called. 
' Pronounced Co-ah-weel-ah. 



1849.] POLK'S ADMINISTRATION. 485 

on the coast. That place had already surrendered' [November 14], and l)eing 
informed that Santa Anna was collecting a large force at San Luis Potosi/ he 
returned to Monterey, to reinforce General Worth, if necessary. Worth was 
joined by Wool's division, near Saltillo, on the 20th of December, and Taylor 
again advanced and took possession of Victoria, on the 29th. 

And now the conquering Taylor was compelled to endure a severe trial uf 
his temper and patriotism. General Scott^ had arrived 
before Vera Cruz [January, 1847 J, for the purpose of 
invading Mexico from that point, and being the senior 
officer, took the supreme command. Just as Taylor 
was preparing for a vigorous winter campaign, he re- 
ceived an order from General Scott, to send him a 
large portion of his best officers and troops to assist 
against Vera Cruz, and to act thereafter only on the 
defensive.'' Taylor was deeply mortified, but, like a 
true soldier, instantly obeyed, and he and General 
Wool Avere left with an a<2;o;re<iate force of only about 

f° i"" 1 1 1 • GENERAL SCOTT. 

live thousand men (only nve hundred regulars) to op- 
pose an army of twenty thousand, now gathering at San Luis Potosi, under 
Santa Anna. They united their forces at Agua Nueva," twenty miles south 
from Saltillo, on the San Luis road, early in February [Feb. 4, 1847], and 
weak as he was, Taylor determined to fight the Mexicans, who were now ad- 
vancing upon him. The opportunity was not long delayed. The Americans 
fell back [Feb. 21] to Buena Vista,*^ within eleven miles of Saltillo, and there, 
in a narrow defile in the mountains, encamped in battle order. At about noon 
the next day [Feb. 22] — the anniversary of the birth of Washington — -the Mex- 
ican army approached within two miles of them ; and Santa Anna^ assuring 
Taylor that he was surrounded l)y twenty thousand troops, and could not 
escape, ordered him to surrender within an hour. Taylor politely refused the 
request, and both armies prepared for battle.' There was some skirmising dur- 




' Commodore Connor, who commanded the " Home Squadron" in the Gulf^ captured Tampico. 
Tobasco and Tuspau were captured b\' Commodore Perry [page 512], in October following. 

" Santa Anna was elected provisional President of Mexico, in Decemlier, and in violation of his 
peace promises to Commodore Connor, he immediately placed himself at the head of the army. 

' Winlield Scott was born in Virginia in 178G. He was admitted to law practice at the age of 
twenty years. He joined the army in 1808, was made Lieutenant-Colonel in 1812, and passed 
through the war that ensued, with great honor to himself and his country. He was breveted 
major-general in 1814, and was made general-in-chief of the army in 1841. His successes in Mex- 
ico greatly added to his laurels ; and Congress, after a delay of several years, honored him with the 
commi-!sion of Lieutenant-General, on the 15tli of February, 1855. Ho is now [185G] considered 
one of the greatest captains of the age. 

* The necessity for tiiis order was as painful to General Scott as it was mortifying to General 
Taylor. Before leaving Washington, Scott wrote a long private letter to Taylor, apprising him of 
this necessity, expressing his sincere regrets, and speaking in highest praise of the victories already 
achieved in Mexico. ' Pronounced Ag-wah New-vah, or New Water. 

® Pronounced Bwe-naw Ves-tah — Pleasant View. This was the name of a hacienda (planta- 
tion) at Angostura. 

' Santa Anna wrote as follows: 

" Camp at Encatada, February 22(1, 1S47. 
"God and LinERTv! — You are surrounded by twenty thousand men, and can not, in any 
human probability, avoid sufl'ering a rout, and being cut to pieces with your troops ; but as you dc- 



486 



TnE CONFEDERATION. 



[1845. 



ing the afternoon, when the battlc-crj of the Americans was, '■'■The 3Iemory 
of Washington .'" Early the following morning [Feb. 23] a terrible conflict 
commenced. It Avas desperate and bloody, and continued until sunset. Sev- 
eral times the overwhelming numbers of the Mexicans appeared about to crush 
tlic little band of Americans ; and finally Santa Aiina made a desperate assault' 
upon the American center, commanded by Taylor in person. It stood like a 
rock before a billow ; and by the assistance of the artillery of Bragg, Wash- 
ington, and Sherman, the martial wave was rolled back, the Mexicans fled in 
confusion, and the Americans were masters of the bloody field. During the 
night succeeding the conflict, the Mexicans all withdrew, leaving their dead 

and wounded behind them.^ The invaders 
were now in possession of all the northern 
Mexican provinces, and Scott was prepar- 
ing to storm Vera Cruz^ and march to the 
capital.^ In the course of a few months 
General Taylor left Worth in command 
[Sept., 1847], and returned home, every- 
where receiving tokens of the highest re- 
gard from his countrymen. Let us now 
consider other operations of the war during this period. 

The command of the " Army of the West"^ was given to General Kearney," 
with instructions to conquer New Mexico and California. He left Fort Leaven- 
worth in June, and after a journey of nine hundred miles over the Great Plains 
and among the mountain ranges, he arrived at Santa Fe, the capital of New 




REGION OF TAYLORS OPEKATIOXS. 



serve consideration and particular esteem, I wish to save you from such a catastrophe, and for that 
purpose give you this notice, in order that you may surrender at discretion, under the assurance 
that you will be treated with the consideration belonging to the Mexican character ; to which end 
you will be granted an hour's time to make up your mind, to commence from the moment that my 
flag of truce arrives in your camp. With this view, I assure you of my particular consideration. 

"Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. 
"To General Z. Taylor, Commanding the Forces of the U. S." 

General Taylor did not take the allotted time to make up his mind, but instantly sat down and 
WTote the following reply : 

" Head-quartees, Aemy op OcctrpATioN, Near Bueiia Vista, Feb. 22ii, 1847. 
"Sir: In reply to your note of this date, summoning me to surrender my forces at discre- 
tion, I beg leave to say that I decline acceding to your request. With high respect, I am, sir, your 
obedient servant, _ Z. Taylor, Major-General U. S. Army.'' 

I To deceive the Americans, Santa Anna resorted to the contemptible trick of sending out a 
flag in token of surrender, at tiie moment of making the assault, hoping thereby to cause his 
enemy to be less vigilant. Taylor was too well acquainted with Mexican treachery to be de- 
ceived. 

^ The Americans lost two hundred and sixty-seven killed, four hundred and fifty-six wounded, 
and twenty-three missing. The Mexicans lost almost two thousand. They left five hundred of 
their comrades dead on the field. Among the Americans slain was Lieutenant-Colonel Clay, son of 
the distinguished Henry Clay, of Kentucky. Page 500. ^ Page 489. 

* On tlie day of the battle at Buena Yista, General lilinon, with eight hundred cavalry, was 
driven from Saltillo by Captain Webster and a small party of Americans. On the 26th of February, 
Colonels Morgan and Irvin defeated a party at Agua Frio ; and on the 7th of March, Major Gid- 
dings was victorious at Ceralvo. ^ Page 483. 

° Stephen W. Kearney was a native of New Jersey. Ho was a gallant soldier in the War of 
1812-15. He was breveted a Brigadier in 1846, and Major-General in December the same year, for 
gallant conduct in the Mexican War. He died at Vera Cruz, in October, 1848, at the age of fifty- 
four years. • 



1849.] POLK'S ADMINISTRATION. 487 

Mexico, on the 18tli of August. lie met with no resistance ;' and having taken 
peaceable possession of the country, and constituted Charles Bent its governor, 
he marched toward California. He soon met an express from Commodore Stock- 
ton' and Lieutenant-Colonel Fremont, informing him that the conquest of Cali- 
fornia had already been achieved. 

Fremont had been sent with a party of about sixty men to explore portions 
of New Mexico and California. When he arrived in the vicinity of Monterey, 
on the Pacific coast, he was opposed by a Mexican force under General Castro. 
Fremont aroused all the American settlers in the vicinity of San Francisco 
Bay, captured a Mexican post and garrison, and nine cannons, and two hun- 
dred and fifty muskets, at Sonora Pass [June 15, 1846], and then advanced to 
Sonora, and defeated Castro and his troops. The Mexican authorities were 
effectually driven out of that region of the country ; and on the 5th of July, 
the American Californians declared themselves independent, and jjlaced Fre- 
mont at the head of the government. Two days afterward, Commodore Sloat, 
then in command of the squadron in the Pacific, bombarded and captured Mon- 
terey ; and on the 9th, Commodore Montgomery took possession of San Fran- 
cisco. Commodore Stockton arrived on the 15th, and with Colonel Fremont, 
took possession of the city of Los Angelos on the 17th of August. On receiv- 
ing this information, Kearney sent the main body of his troops to Santa Fe, 
and with one hundred men he pushed forward to Los Angelos, near the Pacific 
coast, where he met [Dec. 27, 1847] Stockton and Fremont. In company with 
these officers, he shared in the honor of the final battle of San Gabriel [Jan. 8, 
1847], which completed the conquest and pacification of California. Fremont, 
the real liberator of that country, claimed the right to be governor, and was 
supported by Stockton and the people ; but Kearney, his superior officer, would 
not acquiesce. Fremont refused to obey him ; and Kearney departed, sailed 
to Monterey, and there, in conjunction with Commodore Shubrick, he assumed 
the office of governor, and proclaimed [Feb. 8, 1847] the annexation of Cali- 
fornia to the United States. Fremont was ordered home to be tried for dis- 
obedience of orders. He was deprived of his commission ; but the President, 
valuing him as one of the ablest officers in the army, offered it to him again. 
Fremont refused it, and went again to the wilderness and engaged in explor- 
ation.' 

' The governor and four thousand Mexicans troops fled at his approach, and the people, num- 
bering about six thousand, quietly submitted. 

* Robert F. Stockton is a son of one of the New Jersey signers of the Declaration of Independ- 
ence. He entered the navy in 1811, and was appointed conamodore in 1838. Ho left the navy in 
May, 1850, and has since been a member of the United States Senate from New Jersey. 

^ Jolm Charles Fremont was born at Savannah, Georgia, in January, 18i:5. His father was a 
Frenchman ; his mother a native of Virginia. He was born while his parents were on a journey, 
and his infancy was spent among the wilds of the south-west. At the age of thirteen he commenced 
iho study of law, but was soon afterward placed in a good school for the enlargement of his educa- 
tion. He was very successful ; and after leaving school became a teacher in Charleston, and then 
instructor in mathematics on l)oard a sloop-of-war. As a civil engineer, he had few equals, and in 
this capacity he made many explorations, in the service of private individuals and the government, 
as lieutenant. His several explorations are among the wonders pf the age. In 1810, the citizens 
of (Charleston, South Carolina, presented him with an elegant sword, in a gold scabbard, as a testi- 
monial of their appreciation of his great services to the country ; and in 1850, the King of Prussia^ 



488 



THE CONFEDERATION. 



[1845. 



Other stirring events were occurring in the same direction at this time. 
While Kearney was on his way to California, Colonel Doniphan, by his com- 
mand, was engaged, with a thousand Missouri volunteers, in forcing the Nav- 
ajo Indians to make a treaty of peace. This was accomplished on the 22d of 
November, 1846, and then Doniphan marched toward Chihuahua, to join Gen- 
eral Wool. At Braceti, in the valley of the Rio del Norte, they met a large 




Mexican force on the 22d of December, under General Ponce de Leon. He 
sent a black flag to Doniphan, with the message, '• We will neither ask nor give 
quarter." The Mexicans then advanced and fired three rounds. The Mis- 
sourians fell upon their ftices, and the enemy, supposing them to be all slain, 
rushed forward for plunder. The Americans suddenly arose, and delivering a 
deadly fire from their rifles, killed two hundred Mexicans, and dispersed the 
remainder in great confusion. Doniphan then pressed forward, and when 
within eighteen miles of the capital of Chihuahua, he was confronted [Feb. 28, 
1847] by four thousand Mexicans. These ho completely routed,' and then 
pressing forward to the city of Chihuahua, he entered it in triumph, raised the 



through the venerable Baron Von Humboldt, sent him the grand golden medal struck for those who 
have made essential progress in science. When California l)ecame a State, he was elected its first 
United States senator [1851] ; and at the " Republican" National Convention, held at Philadelphia^ 
in June, 1856, he was nominated for the high office of President of the United States. 

' The Americans lost, m killed and wounded, only eighteen men ; the Mexicans lost about six 
hundred. 



1849.] 



POLK'S ADMINISTRATION. 



489 



flag of the United States upon its citadel, in the midst of a population of forty 
thousand [March 2] , and took possession of the province in the name of his gov- 
ernment. After resting six weeks he marched to Saltillo [May 22], where 
General Wool was encamped. From thence he returned to New Orleans, hav- 
ing made a perilous march from the Mississippi, of about five thousand miles. 
The conquest of all Northern Mexico,' with California, was now complete, and 
General Scott was on his march for the great capital. Let us now consider 

GENERAL SCOTT'S INVASION OF MEXICO. 

The Mexican authorities having scorned overtures for peace made by the 
government of the United States in the autumn of 1846. it was determined to 
conquer the whole country. For that purpose General Scott was directed to 
collect an army, capture Vera Cruz,^ and march to the Mexican capital. His 
rendezvous was at Lobos Island, about one hundred and twenty-five miles north 
from Vera Cruz ; and on the 9th of March, 1847, he landed near the latter with 
an army of about thirteen thousand men, borne thither by a powerful squadron 
commanded by Commodore Connor.^ He invested the city on the 13th ; and 
five days afterward [March 18], having every thing ready for an attack,^ he 
summoned the town and fortress, for the last time, to surrender A refusal 
was the signal for opening a general cannon- 
ade, and bombardment from his batteries and 
the fleet. The siege continued until the 27th, 
when the city, the strong castle of San Juan 
d'Ulloa, with five thousand prisoners, and 
five hundred pieces of artillery, were surren- 
dered to the Americans. The latter had only 
forty men killed, and about the same number 
wounded. At least a thousand Mexicans 
were killed, and a great number were maimed. 
It is estimated that during this siege, not less than six thousand seven hundred 
shots and shells were thrown by the American batteries, weighing, in the ag- 
gregate, more than forty thousand pounds. 

Two days after the siege [March 29, 1847], General Scott took possession 
of Vera Cruz, and on the 8th of April, the advanced force of his army, under 
General Twiggs, commenced their march for the interior by way of Jalapa.^ 
Santa Anna had advanced, with twelve thousand men, to Cerro Gordo, a difii- 




INTRE.NX'llMEXTS AT VERA CRCZ. 



' Some conspiracies in Now Mexico against the new government, ripened into revolt, in Janu- 
ar}', 1847. Governor Bent and others were murdered at Fernando do Taos on the 19th, and mas- 
sacres occurred in other quarters. On the 23d, Colonel Price, with three hundred and fifty men, 
marched against and defeated the insurgents at Canada, and finally dispersed them at the mountain 
gorge called the Pass of Embudo. 

" This city was considered the key to the coimtry. On an island opposite was a very strong 
fortress called the castle of San Juan d'Ulloa [pronounced San-whan-dah-oo-loo-ah], always cele- 
brated for its great strength, and considered impregnable by the Mexicans. 

^ Page 480. 

* The engineering operations were performed very skillfully under the direction of Colonel Tot- 
ten, an officer of the War of 1812. For his bravery at Vera Cruz, he was made Brigadier-General, 
by brevet. He is now [1856] about seventy years of age. ' Pronounced Hah-lah-pah. 



490 THE CONFEDERATION. [1845. 

cult mountain pass at the foot of the eastern chain of the Cordilleras. He was 
strongly fortified, and had many pieces of cannon well placed for defense. 
Scott had followed Twiggs with the main body. He had left a strong garrison 
at Vera Cruz, and his whole army now numbered about eight thousand five 
hundred men. Having skillfully arranged his plans, he attacked the enemy on 
the 18th of April. The assault w^as successful. More than a thousand Mex- 
icans were killed or wounded, and three thousand were made prisoners. Hav- 
ing neither men to guard, nor food to sustain the prisoners, General Scott dis- 
missed them on parole.' The boastful Santa Anna narrowly escaped capture by 
fleeing upon a mule taken from his carriage.^ The Americans lost, in killed 
and Avounded, four hundred and thirty-one. 

The victors entered Jalapa on the 19th of April ; and on the 22d, General 
Worth unfurled the stars and stripes upon the castle of Perote, on the summit 
of the eastern Cordilleras, fifty miles from Jalapa. This was considered the 
strongest fortress in Mexico next to Vera Cruz, yet it was surrendered without 
resistance. Among the spoils were fifty-four pieces of cannon, and mortars, 
and a large quantity of munitions of war. Onward the victorious army 
marched ; and on the 15th of May [1847] it entered the ancient walled and 
fortified city of Puebla,^ without, opposition from the eighty thousand inhabit- 
ants within. Here the Americans rested, after a series of victories almost un- 
paralleled. Within two months, an army averaging only about ten thousand 
men, had taken some of the strongest fortresses on this continent, made ten 
thousand prisoners, and captured seven hundred pieces of artillery, ten thou- 
sand stand of arms, and thirty thousand shells and cannon-balls. Yet greater 
conquests awaited them. 

General Scott remained at Puebla until August,^ when, being reinforced by 
fresh troops, sent by way of Vera Cruz, he resumed his march toward the cap- 
ital, with more than ten thousand men, 



M^^- 



1 i.vft'''' X,- 









V ^"CUSTJNE 

y Extinct volcanoes 



ROUTE OF THE,U. S. ARMY FROM VERA CKUZ 10 MKXiCO. 



leaving a large number sick in the hos- 
pital.^ Their route was through a 
beautiful region, well watered, and 
clothed with the richest verdure, and 
then up the slopes of the great Cordil- 
leras. From their lofty summits, and 
almost from the same spot where Cortez and his followers stood amazed more 

' Note 6, page 311. 

^ Before the battle, Santa Anna said. " I will die fighting rather than the Americans shall 
proudly tread the imperial city of Azteca." So precipitate was his flight that he left all his papers 
behind him, and his wooden leg. He had been so severely wounded in his leg, while defending 
Vera Cruz against the French, in 1838, that amputation became necessary, and a wooden one was 
substituted. ^ Pronounced Pweb-lah. 

* During this long halt of the American army, the government of the United States made un- 
availing efforts to negotiate for peace. The Mexican authorities refased the olive branch, and 
boasted of their patriotism, valor, and strength, while losing post after post, in theii' retreat toward 
the capital. 

^ At one time there were eighteen hundred men sick at Puebla ; and at Perote seven hundred 
died during the summer, notwithstanding the situations of these places, on lofty table-lands, were 
considered exceedingly healthful. 



1849.] 



POLK'S ADMINISTRATION. 



49^ 



than three centuries before/ Scott and his army looked down [August 10, 1847J 
upon that glorious panorama of intervales, lakes, cities, and villages, in the 
great valley of Mexico — the capital of the Aztec Empire" — the seat of " the 
Halls of the Montezumas.'" 

General Twiggs' cautiously led the advance of the American army toward 
the city of Mexico, on the 11th of August, and enc limped at St. Augustine, on 
the Acapulco road, eight miles south of the capital. Before him lay the strong 
fortress of San (or St.) Antonio, and close on his right were the heights of 
Churubusco, crowned with embattled walls covered with cannons, and to be 
reached in front only by a. dangerous causeway. Close by was the fortified 
camp of Contreras, containing six thousand Mexicans, under General Valencia; 
and between it and the city was Santa Anna, and twelve thousand men. held in 
reserve. Such was the general position of the belligerents when, a little after 
midnight on the 20th of August [1847], General Smith^ marched to the attack 
of the camp at Contreras. The battle opened at sunrise. It Avas sanguinary, 
but brief, and the Americans were victorious. Eighty oflBcers and three thou- 
sand private soldiers were made prisoners ; and the chief trophies were thirty- 
three pieces of artillery. In the mean Avhile, Generals Pierce' and Shields,^ 
with a small force, kept Santa Anna's powerful reserve at bay. 

General Scott now directed a similar movement 
against Cherubusco. Santa Anna advanced ; and the 
whole region became a battle-field, under the eye and 
control of the American commander-in-chief. The 
invaders dealt blow after l)low successfully. Antonio 
yielded, Churubusco was taken, and Santa Anna aban- 
doned the field and fled to the capital. It Avas a 
memorable day in Mexico. An army, thirty thou- 
sand strong, had been broken up by another less than 
one third its strength in numbers ; and at almost 
every step the Americans were successful. Full four 
thousand of the Mexicans were killed or wounded, 
three thousand were made prisoners, and thirty seven 
pieces of cannon were taken, all in one day. The 
Americans lost, in killed and wounded, almost eleven operations near mexico. 

* Page 43. 

" According to the faint glimmerings of ancient Mexican history which liave come down to us, 
the Aztecs, who occupied tliat country wlien it fir.«t became known to Europeans [page 43], camo 
from the North, aud were more retiued than any other tribes, which, from time to time, had held 
possession of the country. They built a city within the borders of Lake Tezcuco, and named it 
Mexico, iu honor of M''xitli, their god of war. Where the present great cathedral stands, they had 
erected an immense temple, dedicated to the sun, and there oflercd human sacrifices. It is related, 
tliat at its consecration, almost sixty thousand human Ijeings were sacrificed. The temple was built 
about the year 1480, by the predecessor of Montezuma, the emperor found by Cortez. 

^ This expression, referring to the remains of the palace of Montezuma in Mexico, was often 
used durhig the war. 

■• David E. Twiggs was born in Georgia in 1790. He was a major at the close of the "War of 
1812-15, and was retained in the army. He was breveted a Major-Gcncral after the battle at 
Monterey, and for his gallantry there received the gift of a sword from Congress. 

" General Persifer R Smith, of Louisiana. * Page 514. 

■' General James Shields, of Illinois, afterward a representative of that State in the Senate of the 
United States. 




494 THE CONFEDERATION. [1845. 

hundred. They might now have entered the city of Mexico in triumph, but 
General Scott preferred to bear the olive branch, rather than the palm. As he 
advanced to Tacubaya, [August 21], within three miles of the city, a flag came 
from Santa Anna to ask for an armistice, preparatory to negotiations for peace.' 
It was granted, and Nicholas P. Trist, who had been appointed, by the United 
States government, a commissioner to treat for peace, went into the capital 
[August 24] for the purpose. . Scott made the palace of the archbishop, at 
Tacubaya, his head-quarters, and there anxiously awaited the result of the con- 
ference, until the 5th of September, when Mr. Trist returned, Avith the intelli- 
gence that his propositions were not only spurned with scorn, but that Santa 
Anna had violated the armistice by strengthening the defenses of the city. 
Disgusted with the continual treachery of his foe, Scott declared the armistice 
at an end, on the 7th of September, and prepared to storm the capital. 

The first demonstration against the city was on the morning of the 8th of 
September, when less than four thousand Americans attacked fourteen thousand 
Mexicans, under Santa Anna, at El Molinos del Rey (the King's Mills) near 
Chepultepec. They were at first repulsed, with great slaughter : but returning 
to the attack, they fought desperately for an hour, and drove the Mexicans from 
their position. Both parties suffered dreadfully. The Mexicans left almost a 
thousand dead on the field, and the Americans lost about eight hundred. And 
now the proud Chepultepec was doomed. It was a lofty hill, strongly fortified, 
and the seat of the military school of Mexico. It was the last place to be 
defended outside the suburbs of the city. Scott erected four heavy batteries to 
bear upon it, on the night of the 11th of September ; and the next day [Sep- 
tember 12, 1847], a heavy cannonade and bombardment commenced. On the 
1 oth, the assailants commenced a furious charge, routed the enemy, with great 
slauo-hter, and unfurled the American flag over the shattered castle of Chepul- 
tepec. The Mexicans fled to the city along an aqueduct, pursued by General 
Quitman" to its very gates. That night, Santa Anna and his army, wuth the 
oflicers of government, fled from the doomed capital ; and at four o'clock the 
following morning [September 14], a deputation from the city authorities 
waited upon General Scott, and begged him to spare the town and treat for 
peace. lie would make no terms, but ordered Generals "Worth and Quitman^ 
to move forward, and plant the stripes and stars upon the National Palace. 
The victorious generals entered at ten o'clock, and on the Grand Plaza, ^ took 
formal possession of the INIexican Empire. Order soon reigned in the capital. 
Santa Anna made some feeble efforts to regain lost power, and failed. He 
appeared before Puebla on the 22d of September, where Colonel Childs had 
been besieged since the 13th. The approach of General Lane frightened him 
away ; and in a battle with the troops of that leader at Huamantla, Santa 

' Note 1, page 242. 

" John A. Quitman is a native of New Tork, and is now [1856] about fifty-seven years of age. 
He led volunteers to the Mexican war, and was breveted and presented with a sword by Congress, 
for his gallantry. He was Governor of Mississippi in 1851. 

3 The approach of each was along separate aqueducts. See map, page 493. 

* Place. This is the large public square in the city of Mexico. 




Gexbeal Scott Entering the City op Mexico 



1849.] POLK'S ADMINISTRATION. 497 

Anna was defeated. On the 18th of October he was again defeated at Atlixco. 
and there his troops deserted him. Before the close of October, he was a 
fugitive, stripped of every commission, and seeking safety, by flight, to the 
shores of the Gulf The president of the Mexican Congress assumed provis- 
ional authority ; and on the 2d of February, 1848, that body concluded a treaty 
of peace, with commissioners of the United States at Gaudaloupe Hidalo-o. 
This treaty was finally agreed to by both governments, and on the 4th of July 
following, President Polk proclaimed it. It stipulated the evacuation of Mex- 
ico by the American army, within three months ; the payment of three millions 
of dollars in hand, and twelve millions of dollars, in four annual instalments, 
by the United States to Mexico, for the territory acquired by conquest ; and in 
addition, to assume debts due certain citizens of the United States to the 
amount of three millions five hundred thousand dollars. It also fixed bound- 
aries, and otherwise adjusted matters in dispute. New INIexico and California 
now became Territories of the United States. 

During the same month that a treaty of peace was signed at Gaudaloupe 
Hidalgo, a man employed by Captain Sutter, who owned a mill twenty-five 
miles up the American fork of the Sacramento River, discovered gold. It was 
very soon found in other localities, and during the summer, rumors of the fact 
reached the United States. These rumors assumed tangible form in President 
Polk's message in December, 1848 ; and at the beginning of 1849, thousands 
were on their way to the land of gold. Around Cape Horn, across the Isthmus 
of Panama, and over the great central plains of the continent, men went by 
hundreds ; and far and wide in California, the precious metal was found. From 
Europe and South America, hundreds flocked thither; and the Chinese came 
also from Asia, to dig gold. The dreams of the early Spanish voyao-ers,'' and 
those of the English Avho sought gold on the coasts of Labrador," and up the 
rivers in the middle of the continent,'' have been more than realized. Hundreds 
yet [1856] continue to go thither, and the gold seems inexhausti1)le.' 

The war with Mexico, and the settlement of the Oregon boundary question* 
with Great Britain, were the most prominent events, having a relation to for- 
eign powers, which distinguished Mr. Polk's administration. Two measures of 
a domestic character, appear prominently among many others which mark his 
administration as full of activity. These were the establishment of an inde- 
pendent treasury system,' by which the national revenues are collected in gold 
and silver, or treasury notes, without the aid of banks ; and a revision of the 
tariff laws in 1846, by which protection to American manufacturers was 
lessened. It was during the last year of his administration that AVisconsin was 
admitted [May 29, 1848] into the Union of States, making the whole number 
thirty. At about this time, the people of the Union were preparing for another 
presidential election. The popularity which General Taylor hud gained by his 
brilliant victories in Mexico, caused him to be nominated for that exalted sta- 
tion, in many parts of the Union, even before he returned home f and he was 

' Note G, page 515. " Page 43. ^ Page 52. * Page 56. " Note 3, page 373. 

• Page 479. ' Note 2, page 471. » Page 486 

32 



498 



THE CONFEDERATION. 



[1849. 



chosen to be a candidate for that office, by a national convention held at Phila- 
delphia in June, 1848. His opponent was General Lewis Cass, of IVIichigan, 
now [185GJ United States senator from that State.' General Taylor was 
elected by a large majority, with Millard Fillmore, of New York, as Vice- 
President. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

TAYLOR'S ADMINISTRATION [1849—1850.] 

The 4th of March, 1849, was Sunday, and the inauguration of Zachary 
Taylor,^ the twelfth President of the United States, did not take place until the 




next day. Again people had gathered at the Federal city from all parts of 
the Union, and the day being pleasant, though cloudy, a vast concourse were 

» Note 2, page 424. 

" Zachary Taylor was born in Virginia, in November, 1784. He went witli his father to Ken- 
tucky the following year, and his childhood was passed near the present city of Louisville. He 
entered the United States army in 1807. He was a distinguished subaltern during the war of 
1812-15, and attained the rank of major. He was of groat service in the Florida War [page 468] ; 
and when hostilities with Mexico appeared probable, he was sent in that direction, and, as wo 
have seen, displayed great skill and bravery. He died iu July, 1850, having performed the duties 
of President for only sixteen months. 



1850.] TAYLOR'S ADMIN ISTR ATI OX . 499 

assembled in front of the eastern portico of the capitol, long before the appointed 
hour for the interesting ceremonies. In a clear and distinct voice, he pro- 
nounced his inaugural address, and then took the oath of office udiuinistered by 
Chief Justice Tanej. On the following day he nominated his cabinet officers,' 
and the appointments were immediately confirmed by the Senate. With the 
heart of a true patriot and honest man, Taylor entered upon his responsible 
duties with a sincere desire to serve his country as faithfully in the cabinet, as 
he had done in the field.'' He had the sympathies of a large majority of the 
people with him, and his inauguration was the promise of great happiness and 
prosperity for the country. 

When President Taylor entered upon the duties of his office, thousands of 
adventurers were flocking to California from all parts of the Union, and ele- 
ments of a new and powerful State were rapidly gathering there. Statesmen 
and politicians perceived the importance of tlic new Territory, and soon the 
question whether slavery should have a legal existence there, became an absorb- 
ing topic in Congress and among the people. The inhabitants of California 
decided the question for themselves. In August, 1849, General Riley, the 
military Governor of the Territory, established a sort of judiciary by proclama- 
tion, with Peter II. Burnet as Chief Justice. Before that time there was no 
statute law in California. By proclamation, also, Governor Riley summoned 
a convention of delegates to meet at Monterey, to form a State Constitution. 
Before it convened, the inhabitants in convention at San Francisco, voted 
against slavery ; and the Constitution, prepared and adopted at Monterey, on 
the first of September, 1849. excluded slavery from the Territory, forever. 
Thus came into political form the crude elements of a State, the birth and 
maturity of which seems like a dream. All had been accomplished within 
tv>'enty months from the time when gold was discovered near Sutter"s Mill. 

Under the Constitution, Edward Gilbert and G. H. Wright, were elected 
delegates for California in the Federal House of Representatives : and the State 
Legislature, at its first session, elected John Chai'les Fremont^ and William INI. 
GAvinn, United States senators. When the latter went to Washington, they 
carried their Constitution with them, and presented a petition [February, 
1850] asking for the admission of that Territory into the Union as a free and 
independent State.* The article of the Constitution which excluded slavery, 
became a cause for violent debates in Cono-ress, and of bitter sectional fcelinjr 
between the people of the North and the South. The Union, so strong in the 
hearts of the people, was shaken to its center, and prophets of evil foolishly 

' He appointed John M. Clayton, Secretary of State ; William M. Meredith, Secretary of the 
Treasury; George W. Crawford, Secretary of War ; William B. Preston, Secretary of the Navy; 
Thomas Ewing, Secretary of the Interior (a new office recently established, in which some of the 
duties before performed by the State and Treasury departments are attended to) ; Jacob Collamer, 
Postmaster-General; and Reverdy Johnson, Attorney-General. 

' Page 481 to page 486, inclusive. " ' Page 488. 

* At this time our government was perplexed by the claims of Texas to portions of the Terri- 
tory of New Mexico, recently acquired [page 497], and serious difficulty was apprehended. Early 
in 1850, the inhabitants of New Mexico petitioned Congress for a civil government, and the Mor- 
mons of the Utah region also petitioned for the organization of the country they had recently- 
settled, into a Territory of the United States. 



500 



THE CONFEDERATION. 



[1849. 



predicted its speedy dissolution. As in 1832/ there were menaces of secession 
from the Union, by Southern representatives, and never before did civil war 
appear so inevitable. Happily for the country, some of the ablest statesmen 
and patriots the Republic had ever gloried in. were members of the national 
Letrislaturc, at that time, and with consummate skill they directed and con- 
trolled the storm. In the midst of the tumult and alarm in Congress, and 
throughout the land, Henry Clay again'' appeared as the potent peace-maker 



^5^ 




"between the Hotspurs of the North and South ; and- on the 25th of January, 
1850, he offered, in the Senate a plan of compromise which met the difficulty. 
Eleven days afterward [February 5, 1850] he spoke nobly in defense of his 
plan, denounced secession as treason, and implored his countrymen to make 



» Page 381. 

" Page 4G4. Henry Clay was born in Hanover county, Virginia, in April, 1777. His early edu- 
cation was defective, and he arose to greatness b}' tlie force of his own genius. His extraordinary 
inteUectual powers l^egan to develop at an early age, and at nineteen he commenced the study 
of the law. When admitted to practice, at the ago of twenty, he went over the mountains to the 
fertile valleys of Kentucky, and there laid the foundations of his greatness as a lawyer and orator. 
The latter quality was first fully developed when a convention was called to revise the Constitution 
of Kentucky. Then he worked manfully and unceasinglj' to procure the election of delegates who 
"would favor the emancipation of the slaves. He became a member of the Kentucky Legislature in 
1803, and there he took a front rank. He was chosen to fill a vacant seat in the United States 
Senate in 1806, and in 1811 he was elected a member of the House of Representatives, and became 
its Speaker. From that time until his death, he was continually in public life. He long held a 
front rank among American statesmen, and died, while a member of the United States Senate, in 
the city of Washington, at the close of June, 1852. 



1850.] PILLMORE'S ADMINISTRATION. 501 

every sacrifice but honor, in support of the Union. Mr. Clay's plan was 
warmly seconded by Daniel Webster;' and other senators approving of compro- 
mise, submitted propositions. Finally, on motion of Senator Foote of Missis- 
sippi, a committee of thirteen was appointed to consider the various plans and 
report a bill. The committee consisted of six northern and six southern sen- 
ators, and these chose the thirteenth. The Senate appointed Mr. Clay chairman 
of the committee, and on the 8th of May following, he reported a bill. It was 
discussed for four months, and on the 9th of September, each measure included 
in the bill having been thoroughly considered separately, the famous Coinpro- 
mise Act of 1850, having passed both Houses of Congress, became a law. 
Because several measures, distinct in their objects, Avere embodied in the act. it 
is sometimes known as the " Omnibus Bill." The most important stipulations 
of the act were, 1st. That California should be admitted into the Union as a 
State, with its anti-slavery Constitution, and its territorial extent from Oregon 
to the Mexican possessions ; 2d. That the vast country east of California, con- 
taining the Mormon settlements near the Great Salt Lake," should be erected 
into a Territory called Utah, without mention of slavery, 3d. That New Mex- 
ico should be erected into a Territory, within satisfactory boundaries, and with- 
out any stipulations respecting slavery, and that ten millions of dollars should 
be paid to Texas from the Federal treasury, in purchase of her claims; 4th. 
That the slave-trade in the District of Columbia should be abolished ; 5th. A 
law providing for the arrest in the northern or free States, and return to their 
masters, of all slaves vfho should escape from bondage. The last measure of 
the Compromise Act produced, and continues to produce, much dissatisfaction 
at the North ; and the execution, evasion, and violation of the law, in several 
instances, have led to serious disturbances and much bitter sectional feeling.^ 

While the great Compromise question was under discussion, the nation was 
called to lament the loss of its Chief ISIagistrate. President Taylor was seized 
with a malady, similar in its effects to cholera, which terminated his earthly 
career on the 9th of July, 1850. In accordance Avith the provisions of the 
Constitution,* he was immediately succeeded in office by 

MILLARD F I L L il R E , ' 

who, on the 10th of July, took the oath to " preserve, protect, and defend the 
Constitution of the United States." President Taylor's cabinet resigned; but 
the new President, with great delicacy, declined to consider their resignations 

' Pago 503. ' Page 503. ^ Page 529. * Article II., section 1, of the Federal Constitution. 

' Millard Fillmore was born in January-, 1800, in Cayuga county, New York. His early edu- 
cation was limited, and at a suitable age he was apprenticed to a wool-carder. At the age of nine- 
teen, his talent attracted the attention of Judge Wood, of Cayuga county, and he took the humble 
apprentice under his charge, to study the science of law. He became eminent in his profession. 
Ho was elected to the Assembly of his native State in 1829, and in 1832, was chosen to represent 
his district in Congress. He was re-elected in 1837, and was continued in office several years. In 
1844, ho was an imsuccessful candidate for the office of Governor of his native State, and in 1848 
he was elected Vice-President of the LTnited States. The death of Ta3'lor gave him the presidency, 
and he conducted public aftairs with dignity and skill. In the summer of 1856. he was nominated 
for the office of President of the United States, by the "American" part\-, with A. J. Donelson for 
Vice-President. See Note 1, page 479. 



502 



THE CONFEDERATION. 



[1850. 



until after the obsequies of the deceased President had been performed. At his 
request, they remained in ofiice until the 15th of the month, when President 
Fillmore appointed new heads of the departments ' 

The administration of President Tajlor had been brief, but it was distin- 





i/cyCy^-H^i^-qX^ 



guished by events which will have an important bearing upon the future des- 
tiny of our Republic. One of these was an invasion of Cuba by a force under 
General Lopez, a native of that island, which was organized and officered in the 
United States, in violation of existing neutrality laws. For a long time the 
native Cubans had been restive under the rigorous rule of Spanish Governor- 
Generals,^ and a desire for independence burned in the hearts of many of the 
best men there. Among these was Lopez, who, in forming this invading expe- 
dition, counted largely upon this feeling for co-operation. He landed at Car- 



' Daniel Webster, Secretary of State ; Thomas Corwin, Secretary of the Treasury ; Charles M. 
Conrad, Secretary of War; Alexander H. H.Stuart, Secretary of the Interior; William A. Graham, 
Secretary of the Navy; John J. Crittenden, Attorney-General; Nathan K. Hall, Postmaster-Gen- 
eral. Daniel Webster was born in Sahsbnry, New Hampshire, in January, 1782, and was educated 
chiefly at the Phillips Academy at Andover, and Dartmouth College at Hanover. He studied law 
in Boston, and was admitted to tlie bar in 1805. He commenced practice in his native State, and 
soon became eminent. He first appeared in public life in 1813, when he took his seat as a member 
of the Federal House of Representatives. At that session his speeches were remarkable, and a 
southern member remarked, " The North has not his equal, nor the South his superior." Although 
in public life a greater portion of the time from that period until his death, yet he always had an 
extensive and lucrative law practice. He stood foremost as a constitutional lawyer ; and for many 
years he was peerless as a statesman. He died at Marshfield, Massachusetts, in October, 1852, at 
the age of almost seventy-one years. * Page 40. 



1853.] FILLMORE'S ADMINISTRATION. 503 

denas on the 1 9th of April, 1850, expecting to be joined by some of the Span- 
ish troops and native Cubans, and by concerted action to rid the island of cruel 
])ondage. But the people and troops did not co-operate with him, and disap- 
pointed, he returned to the United States to prepare for a more formidable 
expedition. We shall meet him again pi'csently. 




Q 



^;/e^ :^^Z^ 



During Taylor's administration, one sovereign State and three Territories 
were added to the Confederacy, and preparations were made for organizing other 
local governments within the domain of the United States. That State was 
California, and the Territories were of those of New Mexico, Utah, and jNIinne- 
sota.' The greater portion of the inhabitants of Utah are of the religious sect 
called Mormons, who. after suffering much in ^Missouri and Illinois, from their 
opposers, left those States in 1848, and penetrated the deep wilderness in the 
interior of our continent ; and near the Great Salt Lake, in the midst of the 
savage Utah tribes, they have built a large city, made extensive plantations, 
and founded an empire almost as large, in territorial extent, as that of 

' Minnesota (sky-colored water) is the Indian name of the river St. Peter, the hxrgcst tributary 
of the Mississippi, in that region. It was a part of the vast Territory of Louisiana, and was organ- 
ized in March, 1849. An embryo village at the Falls of St. Anthony, named St. Paul, was made 
the capit;il, and it now contains more than ten thousand souls. Its growth is unprecedented, even 
in tlie wonderful progress of other cities of the West, and it promises to speedily equal Chicago in 
its populition. The whole region of Minnesota is very attractive; and it has been called the 
New England of the West. 




5Q4 THE CONFEDERATION. [1850. 

Alexander the Great.' The sect was founded in 1827, by a shrewd young 
man named Joseph Smith, a native of central New York, who professed to 
have received a special revelation from Heaven, giving 
him knowledge of a book which had been buried many 
centuries before, in a hill near the village of Palmyra, 
whose leaves were of gold, upon which were engraved 
the records of the ancient people of America, and a 
new gospel for man. He found dupes, believers, and 
followers ; and now [1856] there are Mormon mission- 
aries in every quarter of the globe, and the communion 
numbers, probably, not less than two hundred thou- 
josEPH SMITH. gai^d souls. There is about a sufficient number in 

Utah (60,000) to entitle them to a State constitution, and admission into the 
Union. Their permission of polygamy, or men having more than one wife, 
will be a serious bar to their .admission, for Christianity and sound morality 
forbid the custom. The Mormons have poetically called their country Deseret 
— the land of the Honey Bee — but Congress has entitled it Utah, and by that 
name it must be known in history. 

The country inhabited by the Mormons is one of the most remarkable on the 
face of the globe. It consists of a series of extensive valleys and rocky mar- 
gins, spread out into an immense basin, surrounded by rugged mountains, out 
of which no Avaters flow. It is midway between the States on the Mississippi 
and the Pacific Ocean, perfectly isolated from habitable regions, and embracing 
a domain covering sixteen degrees of longitude in the Utah latitude. On the 
east are the sterile spurs of the Rocky Mountains, stretching down to the vast 
plains traversed by the Platte river ; on the west, extending nearly a thousand 
miles toward the Pacific, are arid salt deserts, broken by barren mountains; 
and north and south are immense mountain districts. The valleys affiard pe- 

^ The Mormon exodus Avas one of the most wonderful events on record, when considered in all 
its phases. In September, 18-4(), the last lingering Mormons at Nauvoo, Illinois, where they had 
built a splendid temple, were driven away at the point ot'tlie l)ayonet, by 1,600 troops. In Febru- 
ary preceding, some sixteen hundred men, women, and children, fearful of the wrath of the people 
around them, liad crossed the Mississippi on the ice, and traveling with ox-teams and on foot, they 
penetrated the wilderness to the Indian country, near Council Bluffs, on the Missouri. The rem- 
nant who started in autumn, many of whom were sick men, feeble women, and delicate girls, were 
compelled to traverse the same dreary region. The united host, under the guidance of Brigham 
Young, who is yet their temporal and spiritual leader, halted on the broad prairies of ilissouri the 
following summer, turned up the virghi soil, and planted. Here leaving a few to cultivate and 
gather for wanderers who might come after them, the host moved on, making the wilderness vocal 
with preaching and singing. Order marked every step of their progress, for the voice of Young, 
whom they regarded as a seer, was to them as the voice of God. On they went, forming Tabernacle 
Camps, or" temporary resting-places in the wilderness. No obstacles impeded their progress. They 
forded swift-running' streams, and bridged the deeper floods ; crept up the great eastern slopes of the 
Rocky Mountains, and from the lofty summits of the Wasatch range, they beheld, on the 20th of 
•lulv, 1847 the valley where they were to rest and build a city, and the placid waters of the Great 
Salt Lake, glittering "in the beams of the setting sun. To those weary wanderers, this moutain top 
was a Pi'sgah. From it they saw the Promised Land — to them a scene of wondrous interest. 
Vestward,^lofty peaks, bathed in purple air, pierced the sky ; and as far as the eye could reach, 
north and south, stretched the fertile Valley of Promise, and here and there the vapors of hot 
springs, gushing from rocky coverts, curled above the hills, like smoke from the hearth-fires of home. 
The Pilgrims entered the valley on the 21st of July, and on the 24th the President and High 
Council arrived. There they planted a city, the Jerusalem — the Holy Citj — of the Mormon peojile. 










iSloKMOX EJUUKATIOX. 



1853.] FILLMORE'S ADMINISTRATION. 507 

rennial pasturage, and the soil Ia exceedingly fertile. Wild game abounds in 
the mountains ; the streams are filled -with excellent fish ; the climate i.i 
delightful at all seasons of the year; and "'breathing is a real luxury." 
Southward, over the rim of the great basin, is a fine cotton-growing region, 
into which the Mormons are penetrating. The vast hills and mountain slopes 
present the finest pasturage in the world for sheep, alpacas, and goats. The 
water-power of the whole region is innnense. Iron mines evcrywliere abound, 
and in the Green river basin, there are inexhaustible beds of coil. In these 
great natural resources and defenses, possessed by a people of sucli indomitable 
energy and perseverance as the Mormons, we see the vital elements of a i>ower- 
ful mountain nation in the heart of our continent, and in the direct pathway 
from the Atlantic to the Pacific States, that may yet play a most important 
part, for good or evil, in the destinies of our country and of the Avorld. 

The most important measures adopted during the early part of FilliVaore's 
administration, was the Compromise act, already considered.' During his 
official career, the President firmly supported all the requirements of the act, 
and his judicious and conservative course kept the waters of public opinion com- 
paratively calm, notwithstanding the workings of the Fugitive Slave Law fre- 
(piently produced much local excitement, where it happened to be executed, or, 
as was frequently the case, resisted. At the close of Ins administration, in the 
spring of 1853, there was very little disquietude in the public mind on the sub- 
ject of slavery. 

In the spring of 1851, Congress made important changes in the general 
post-office laws, chiefly in the reduction of letter postage, fixing the I'at.) upon 
a letter weighing not more than half an ounce, and pre-paid, at three cents, to 
any part of the United States, excepting California and the Pacific Territories. 
This measure was a salutary one, and has been productive of much social and 
commercial advantage, for interchanges of thought are 
proportionately more fre(}uent than before, and 
friendly intercourse and business transactions by let- 
ters are far more extensive. At the same time, 
electro-magnetic telegraphing had become (juite per- 
fect ; and by means of the subtle agency of electricity. 
communications were speeding over thousands of 
miles of iron wire, with the rapidity of lightning. 
The establishment of this instantaneous connnunica- 
tion between distant points is one of the most im])or- 
tant achievements of this age of invention and diseov- ...^ ^c-^oc^n ,>,w.c,- 

ery ; and the names of Fulton and Morse" Avill be 




" In 1832, Professor Samuel F. B. Morse had his attention directed to the experiments of 
Franklin upon a wire of a few miles in Icnprth, on the banks of the Schuylkill, in which the velocity 
of electricity was found to be so inappreciable that it was supposed to be instantaneous. Pro- 
fessor Morse, pondering upon this subject, suggested that electricity might be made the means of 
recording characters as signs of intelligence at a distance; and in the autumn of 1832 he con- 
.structcd a portion of the instrumentalities for that purpose. In 1S3.5 he showed the first com- 
plete instrumcut for tdn'jraphic recording, at the New York city University. In 1837 ho com- 



508 THE CONFEDERATION. [1850. 

forever indissolubly connected in the commercial and social history of our 
Republic. 

During the summer of 1851, there was again considerable excitement pro- 
duced throughout the country because other concerted movements were made at 
different points, in the organization of a military force for the purpose of invad- 
ing Cuba.' The vigilance of the government of the United States was awak- 
cned, and orders were given to Federal marshals to seize suspected men, vessels, 
and munitions of war. The steamboat Cleopatra was seized at New York : 
and several gentlemen, of the highest respectability, were arrested on a charge 
of a violation of existing neutrality laws. In the mean Avhile, the greatest ex- 
citement prevailed in Cuba, and forty thousand Spanish troops were concentrated 
there, while a considerable naval force watched and guarded the coasts. These 
hinderances caused the dispersion of the armed bands who were preparing to 
invade Cuba, and quiet was restored for awhile. But in July, the excitement 
v\-as renewed. General Lopez" made a speech to a large crowd in New Orleans, 
in favor of an invading expedition. Soon afterward [August, 1851], he sailed 
from that port with about four hundred and eighty followers, and landed 
[August 11] on the northern coast of Cuba. There he left Colonel Crittenden,^ 
of Kentucky, with one hundred men, and proceeded toward the interior. Crit- 
tenden and his party were captured, carried to Havana, and on the 16th were 
shot. Lopez was attacked on the 13th, and his little army dispersed. He had 
been greatly deceived. There yet appeared no signs of revolution in Cuba, and 
he became a fugitive. He was arrested on the 28th, with six of his followers, 
taken to Havana, and on the 1st of September was executed. Since that 
event no successful effort to organize an invading expedition has been made, 
notwithstanding there is still [1856] a strong feeling in some sections favorable 
to it. 

pleted a more perfect machinery. In 1838 he submitted the matter and the telegraphic instruments 
to Congress, asking their aid to construct a hne of sufBeient length ''to test its practicability and 
utilit}'." The committee to wliom the subject was referred, reported favorably, and proposed an 
appropriation of $30,000 to construct the first line. The appropriation, however, was not made 
until the 3d of March, 1843. The posts for supporting the wires were erected between Washing- 
ton and Baltimore, a distance of forty miles. In the spring of 1844 the hne was completed, and the 
proceedings of the Democratic convention, then sitting in Baltimore, which nominated James K. 
Polk for the Presidenc}^ of the United States, was the first use, for public purposes, ever made by 
the telegraph, whose wires now [185G] extend a distance of almost fifty thousand miles in the 
United States and Canadas. Professor Morse's system of Recording Telegraphs is adopted gener- 
ally on the continent of Europe, and has been selected by the government of Australia for the tele- 
graphic systems of that countrj'. A very ingenious machine for recording telegraphic communica- 
tions with printing types, so as to avoid the necessity of copying, was constructed, a few years ago, 
by House, and is now extensively used. Professor Morse is the eldest son of Rev. Jedediah Morse, 
the first American geographer. He was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts, in 1791, and was 
graduated at Yale College in 1810. He studied painting, in England, and was very successful. He 
was one of the founders of the National Acadenij^ of Design in New York, and he was the first to 
deliver a course of lectures upon art. in America. He became a professor in the University of the 
city of New York, and there perfected his magnetic telegraph. Mr. ilorse now [1856] resides on 
his beautiful estate of Locust Grove, near Po'keepsie, New York. He has received many testi- 
monials of appreciation from eminent individuals and societies abroad : and in the summer of 1856 
he departed for Russia, having received an invitation from the Emperor Alexander to be present at 
his coronation. He returned at the close of October. 

' Page 502. ^ Page 502. 

^ William L. Crittenden. He had been a second lieutenant in the United States infantry, by 
brevet, but resigned in 1849. 



1853.] FILLMORE'S ADMINISTRATION. 509 

In the autumn of 1851, more accessions were made to the vastly-extended 
possessions of the United States, by the purchase of twenty-one millions of 
acres of land in Minnesota, from the Upper Sioux tribes.' The amount paid for 
this tract was about tiiree hundred and five thousand dollars, to be given when 
the Indians should reach their reservation in Upper Minnesota, and sixty-ei^ht 
thousand dollars a year, for fifty years. At about the same time, another 
broad region was purchased of the Lower Sioux ;' and now [1856J a white 
population is flowing thither, to take the place of the Indians, and make ''the 
wilderness blossom as the rose." On account of the rapid progress of immigra- 
tion from abroad and inter-emigration at home, and the Avonderful prosperity 
of business of all kinds, the greatest activity everywhere prevailed, and forecast 
perceived a vast and speedy increase of population and national wealth. Al- 
ready new States and Territories were sending additional representatives to the 
seat of the Federal Government, and the capitol was becoming too narrow.' 
In view of future wants, its extension was decided upon ; and on the 4th of 
July, 1851, the President laid the corner-stone of the addition.^ 

In the month of May, 1845, Sir John Franklin, a veteran English explorer, 
with two vessels and one hundred and thirty-eight men, left Great Britain in 
search of the long-sought-for north-west passage to the East Indies.^ Since the 
spring of 1846, no certain tidings of him have been received, and several expe- 
ditions have been sent in search of him.° Among others, Henry Grinnell, a 
wealthy merchant of New York, sent two vessels, at his own expense, in quest 
of the missing mariner. The expedition left New York in May, 1850, under 
the command of Lieutenant De Haven, of the United States navy. It pene- 
trated the polar waters to the southern entrance of Wellington Channel, where 
the graves of three of Franklin's men, made in April, 1846, were discovered. 
After ineffectual attempts to pass up that channel to the supposed open circum- 
polar sea beyond, the expedition returned in October, 1851, without accomplish- 
ing its benevolent object. Yet the search for the brave Sir John and his com- 

' Page 31. 

■■' About $225,000 were paid for this tract, and a promised annual payment of S'50,000 for 
fifty years. Altogtlier, the United States government paid about $3,000,000 for Indian lands in the 
autumn of 1851. 

^ Each State is entitled to two senators. The number of States now [1856] being thirty-one, 
the Senate is composed of sixty-two members. The number of Representatives to which each 
State is entitled, is determined by the number of inhabitants. The present number of the members 
m the House of Representatives is two hundred and tliirty-four. 

* Note 1, page 388. On the occasion of hxying the corner-stone, an oration was pronounced by 
Daniel Webster, in the course of which he said : " If, therefore, it shall hereafter be the will of God 
that this structure shall fall from its base, that its foundations be upturned, and the deposit beneath 
this stone brought to the eyes of men, be it then knowm, that on this day the Union of the United 
States of America stands firm — that their Constitution still exists unimpaired, and with all its use- 
fulness and glory, growing every day stronger in the affections of the great body of the American 
people, and attracting, more and more, the admiration of the world." 

* Note 2, page 47, also page 52, and note 8, page 59. 

" In 1855, an overland exploring part}', was dispatched by the Hudson's Bay Fur Company to ex- 
amine the localities on the northern coast of America, where it was supposed Franklin and his 
associates perished. At the mouth of the Great Fish, or Black River, Esquimaux informed them 
that about four years before, a party of white men had perished from famine and exhaustion in the 
vicinity of Montreal Island. Some articles known to have belonged to Sir John Franklin's party, 
were found among the Esquimaux, and seem to confirm the belief that these bravo adventurers 
actually perished about the year 1851, on the northern borders of North America. 




510 TllK CONFEDERATION. [1850; 

panions was not abandoned. From England another expedition was sent ; and 
My. Grinnell, in connection with the government of 
the United States, sent another on the same errand, 
under the command of Dr. Elisha K. Kane, the sur- 
geon and naturalist of the former enterprise. It sailed 
from New York on the 31st of May, 1853, and on the 
10th of September following they were frozen in on 
ihe coast of Greenland, at the most northerly point 
ever reached. There thev passed the winter, and the 
following summer was spent in exploring the shores, 
their vessel all the Avhile remaining fist in the ice. The 
vR. KANE. winter of 1854 and 1855 Avas one of unexampled sever- 

ity, and they suficred inconceivable hardships. Their stock of fuel was ex- 
hausted, and even rats became choice morsels of food. Disease fell upon them ; 
and at one time it appeared as if all must inevitably perish. But the indom- 
itable perseverance of Dr. Kane' and his party overcame all ; and they were 
rewarded by the discovery of the long-suspected open polar sea, l)eyond the 
great ice-belt that girdles the North Pole. The long absence of the expedition 
excited fears for their safety, and another was sent to their relief Dr. Kane 
;.nd his party, compelled to abandon their vessels, had voyaged in open boats 
thirteen hundred miles to n Danish settlement on Greenland, and were about to 
like passage for England when the Relief Expedition found them. On the 
18th of September, 1855, they all sailed for New York, where they arrived on 
the 11th of October. In the mean while, the great problem which, for three 
hundred years, has perplexed the maritime world, had been worked out by an 
Eno-lish navigator. The fact of a north-west })assage around the Arctic coast 
of North America, from Bafiin's Bay to Behring"s Straits, has been unques- 
tionably demonstrated by Captain M'Clure, of the ship Investigator, who was 
sent in search of Sir John Franklin in October, 1853. Having passed through 



' Elisha Kent Kane was bom in Philadelphia in February, 1822, and he took his degree in the 
Medical University of Pennsylvania in 18413. He entered the American navy as assistant-surgeon, 
and was attached "as a physician to tlie first American embassy to China. "While in the East, he visited 
many of the Islands, aud'met with wild adventures. After that he ascended tlie Nile to the confines 
of Nubia, and passed a season in Egypt. After traveling through Greece and a part of Europe, on 
foot, he returned to the United States in 1846. He was immediately sent to the coast of Africa, 
where he narrowly escaped death from fever. Bcon after his recovery he went to Mexico as a 
volunteer in the war then progressing, where his bravery and endurance commanded universal ad- 
miration. His horse was killed under him, and himself was badly wounded. He was appointed 
senior surgeon and naturalist to the "G-rinnell Expedition," sent in search of 8ir John Franklin ; 
and after liis return he prepared an interesting account of the exploration. He was appointed to 
the command of a second expedition, whicli sailed in May, 18.5.3. Governed by the suggestions of 
a theory which had long occupied his mind, he j^repared more for land than water explorations. 
Supposing Greenland to be the southern cape of a polar continent, it was the intention of Dr. Kano 
to sail as fir north along that coast as the ice would allow, and then leave his vessels and make an 
overland journey northward, in quest of supposed green fields under a mild atmosphere, and an 
open sea within'the polar circle ; and, perhaps, flierc find the temporary homo of Franklin and his 
men. The rigors of those northern v/inters prevented a full carrying out of his plan, but he accom- 
plished wonders in behalf of geographical science. The record of this wonderful expedition, pre- 
pared by himself, has been pubhshed in two superb volumes, illustrated by engravings from draw- 
ings byDr. Kane. The hardships which he had endured made groat inroads on (lie health of Dr. 
Kane (who is a very light man, weighing only 106 pounds); and in October, 1856, he sailed lor 
I^iiglaud to recruit. 



185X] FILLMORE'S ADMINISTRATION. 51;! 

Behring's Straits, and sailed eastward, he reached a point with sleds upon the 
ice, which had been penetrated by navigators from the East (Captain Parry and 
others), thus establishing the fact that there is a water connection between 
Baffin's Bay and those Straits. Already the mute whale had demonstrated 
this fact to the satisfaction of naturalists. The same species are found in Beh- 
ring's Straits and Baffin's Bay ; and as the waters of the trojjical regions would 
be like a sea of fire to them, they must have had communication through the 
polar channels. 

Toward the close of 1851 [December], Louis Kossuth, the exiled governor 
of Hungary, arrived in New York, from England, on a mission to the United 
States in ((uest of aid for his oppressed country. His wonderful efforts in be- 
half of liberty in Hungary during and after the European revolutions in 1848,' 
and his extraordinary talent as an orator, secured for him a reception in Great 
Britain and in the United States, such as the most powerful emperor might be 
proud of His journey throughout a greater portion of the States was like a 
continued ovation. He was welcomed by a deputation from all classes and pur- 
suits ; and many thousands of dollars were raised in aid of Hungary, by volun- 
tary contributions. His noble advocacy of correct international law' and universal 
brotherhood, his unwearied labors in behalf of his smitten country, and his de- 
votion to the cause of human freedom in general, endeared him to the great ma- 
jority of the people of the United States. Tho policy of our government for])ade 
its lending material aid ; but Kossuth received an expression of its Avarmest 
sympathies.^ His advent among us, and his bold enunciation of hitherto unrec- 
ognized national duties, are important and interesting events in the history of 
our republic. 

Some ill-feeliniT between Great Britain and the United States was enn-en- 
dered during the summer of 1852, when the subject of difficulties concerning the 
fisheries' on the coast of British America w'as brought to the notice of Congress, 
and for several months there were indications of a serious disturbance of the am- 
icable relations between the 2;overnments of the United States and Great Britain. 
American fishers were charged with a violation of the treaty of 1818, which 
stipulated that they should not cast their lines or nets in the bays of the Brit- 
ish possessions, except at a distance of three miles or more from the sliore. 
Now, the British government claimed the right to draw a line from head-land 



' In February, 1848, the French people drove Louis Phillippe fiom \m throne, and formed a 
temporary republic. The revohitionary spirit spread ; and witliiu a few months, almost every coun- 
try on the continent of Europe was in a state of agitation, and the mouarchs made man}^ conces- 
sions to tho people. Hungary made an eflbrt to become free from tho rule of Austria, but was 
crushed by the power of a Russian army. 

* He asserted that grand principle, that one nation has no right to interfere with the domestic 
concerns of another, and that all nations are bound to use their ellbrts to prevent such interference. 

' Matters connected with his reception, visit, and desires, occupied much of the attention of 
Congress, and elicited warm debates during the session of 1852. The Chevalier Hulseman, tho 
Austrian minister at Washington, formally protested against the reception of Kossuth, by Congress ; 
and because his protest was not heeded, ho retired from his post, and left tho duties of his oEBco 
with Mr. Auguste Belmonte, of New York. Previous to this, Hulseman issued a written protest 
against the policy of our .government in relation to Austria and Hungary, and that protest was an- 
swered, in a masterly manner, in January, 1S51, by Mr. Webster, the Secretary of State. 

* Pages 47 and 453. 



512 THE CONFEDERATIOISr. [1850. 

to head-land of these bays, and to exclude the Americans from the waters 
within that line.' An armed naval force was sent to sustain this claim, and 
American vessels were threatened with seizure if they did not comply. The 
government of the United States regarded the assumption as illegal, and two 
steam vessels of war (^Princeton and Fulton) were sent to the coast of Nova 
Scotia to protect the rights of American fishermen. The dispute was am- 
icably settled by mutual concessions, in October, 1852, and the cloud passed 
by. 

During the summer of 1852, another important measure of national concern 
was matured and put in operation. The great importance of commercial inter- 
course with Japan, because of the intimate relations which must soon exist be- 
tween our Pacific coast and the East Indies, had been felt ever since the founda- 
tion of Oregon'' and California.' An expedition, to consist of seven ships of war, 
under the command of Commodore Perry, a brother of the " Hero of Lake Erie,"* 
was fitted out for the purpose of carrying a letter from the President of the 
United States to the emperor of Japan, soliciting the negotiation of a treaty of 
friendship and commerce between the two nations, by which the ports of the 
latter should be thrown open to American vessels, for purposes of trade. The 
mission of Commodore Perry was highly successful. He negotiated a treaty, 
by which ports on different Islands should be open to American commerce ;' that 
steamers from California to China should be furnished with supplies of coals; 
and that American sailors shipwrecked on the Japanese coasts should receive 
hospitable treatment. Subsequently a peculiar construction of the treaty on 
the part of the Japanese authorities, in relation to the permanent residence of 
Americans there, threatened a disturbance of the amicable relations which had 
been established. 

The relations between the United States and old Spain, on account of Cuba, 
became interesting in the autumn of 1852. The Spanish authorities of Cuba, 
beintT thoroughly alarmed by the attempts at invasion,^ and the evident sympathy 
in the movement of a large portion of the people of the United States, became ex- 
cessively suspicious, and many little outrages were committed at Havana, which 
kept alive an irritation of feeling inconsistent with social and commercial friend- 
ship.^ The idea became prevalent in Cuba and in Europe, that it was the policy 
of the government of the United States to ultimately acquire absolute possession 

■ This stipulation was so construed as to allow American fishermen to catch cod within the 
large bays where they could easily carry on their avocation at a greater distance than three miles 
fi'om any land. Such had been the common practice, without interference, until the assumption of 
exclusive ri^ht to their bays was promulgated by the British. 

"" Page 4(9. ' Page 487. " Page 423. 

* Previous to this, the Dutch had monopolized the trade of Japan. See note 5, page 59. 

^ Pages 502 and 508. 

'' In the autumn of 1852 an officer of the steamship Crescent City, which conveyed the United 
States mails, passengers, and freiglit between New Orleans and New York, was charged by the 
Spanish authorities with having written articles published in the New York papers, on Cuban af- 
fairs, which were very offensive. He was forbidden to land in Havana ; and in November, when 
the Crescent City, on her way to New York, entered that harbor, no communication between her 
and the shore was allowed, and she was obliged to proceed to sea, with passengers and mails that 
should have been left at Havana. A more flagrant outrage of a similar character was committed 
in the spring of 1854. See page 521. 



1853.] FILLMORE'S ADMINISTRATION. 5I3 

of that island, and thus have the control over the commerce of the Gulf of Mex- 
ico (the door to California), and the trade of the West India group of islands, 
which arc owned, chiefly, by France and England. To prevent such a result, 
the cabinets of France and England asked that of the United States to enter 
with them into a treaty which should secure Cuba; to Spain, by agreeing to dis- 
claim '• now and forever hereafter, all intention to obtain possession of the Island 
of Cuba," and "to discountenance all such attempts, to that efiFect, on the part 
of any power or individual whatever." On the 1st of December, 1852, Edward 
Everett, then Secretary of State, issued a response to this extraordinary prop- 
osition, which the American people universally applauded for its keen logic and 
patriotic and enlightened views. He told France and England plainly, that the 
question was an American, and not an European one, and not properly within 
the scope of their interference ; that while the United States Government dis- 
claimed all intention to violate existing neutrality laws, it would not relinquish 
the right to act in relation to Cuba independent of any other power ; and that it 
could not see with indifference '"the Island of Cuba fall into the hands of any 
other power than Spain."' Lord John Russell, the English prime-minister, 
answered this letter, in February, 1853, and thus ended the diplomatic corres- 
pondence on the subject of the proposed "Tripartite Treaty," as it was called. 

At a national Democratic convention, held at Baltimore early in June, 
1852, Franklin Pierce, of New Hampshire, was nominated for President of the 
United States, and William R. King, of Alabama, for Vice-President. At a 
Whig convention, held at the same place on the 16th of June, General Winfield 
Scott was nominated for the Chief Magistracy, and William A. Graham, of 
North Carolina, for Vice-President. The Democratic nominees were elected in 
November following. Mr. King never entered upon the duties of his office. 
Failing health compelled him to leave the country before the oath of office could 
be administered to him. He went to Cuba, remained a few months, and died on 
the 18th of April, 1853, soon after his return to his estate in Alabama, at the 
age of sixty-eight years. 

The most important of the closing events of ^Ir. Fillmore's administration 
was the creation by Congress of a new Territory called Washington, out of the 
northern part of Oregon.' The bill for this purpose became a law on the 2d of 
March, 1853. 

' As early as 1823, when the Spanish provinces in South America were in rebellion or forming into 
in'Iopeudent republics, President Monroe, in a special message upon the subject, promulgated the 
doctrine, since acted upon, that the United States ou<Tht to resist the extension of foreign domain or 
influence upon the American continent, and not allow any European government, by colonizing or 
otherwise, to gain a foothold in the New World not already acquired. [See note 5, page 448 ] 
This was directed specially against the efforts expected to bo made by the allied sovereigns who 
had crushed Napoleon, to assist Spain against her revolted colonies in America, and to suppress tho 
growth of Democracy there. It became a settled policy of our government, and Mr. Everett re- 
asserted it in its fullest extent. Such expression seemed to be important and seasonable, because 
it was well known that Great Britain was then making strenuous efforts to obtain potent influenco 
in Central America, so as to prevent tho United States from acquiring exclusive property in the 
routes across tho isthmus from tho Gulf of Mexico to tho Pacific Ocean. 

» Pago 479. 

33 



514 



THE CONFEDERATION. 



[1853. 



CHAPTER XIY. 

PIERCE'S ADMINISTRATION. [1 8 53 — 1 8 5 t .] 

A DRIVING sleet filled the air on the 4th of March, 1853, when Franklin 
Pierce/ the fourteenth President of the United States, stood upon the rude 
platform of New Hampshire pine, erected for the purpose over the steps of the 
eastern portico of the Federal capitol, and took the oath of office administered 




.^-t^^?^^:^^^j^^c5> 



by Chief Justice Taney. The military display on that occasion, was larger 
than had ever been seen in the streets of the Federal city, and it was estimated 
that at least twenty thousand strangers were in Washington on the morning of 
the inauguration. Among that great assembly there was one who bore a near 

* Franklin Pierce was born at Hillsborough, New Hampshire, in November, 1804. He is the 
son of General Benjamin Pierce, an active officer in the old War for Independence, and one of the 
most useful men in New Hampshire. In 1820, when sixteen years of age, young Pierce became a 
student in Bowdoin College, at Brunswick, Maine. He was graduated in 1824, chose law as a 
profession, and was admitted to practice at the bar in 1827. He became a warm politician, and 
partisan of General Jackson in 1828 ; and the next year, when he was twenty-five years of age, he 
was elected a member of the Legislature of his native State. There he served four years. He was 
elected to Congress in 1833, and served his constituents in the House of Representatives for four 
years. In 1837, the Legislature of New Hampshire elected hun to a seat in the Federal Senate. 
He resigned his seat in June, 1842, and remained in private life until 1845, when he was appointed 
United States District Attorney for New Hampshire. He was commissioned a Brigadier-General 
in March, 1847, and joined the army in Mexico, under General Scott. After the war, he retired 
from pubUc life, where he remained until called to the highest office in the gift of the people. 



1857.] PIERCE'S ADMINISTRATION. 5^5 

relationship to the great Washington/ and had been present at the inauguration 
of every President of the United States since the formation of our Federal 
government in 1789.^ Untrammeled by special party pledges, the new Chief 
Magistrate entered upon the duties of his office under pleasant auspices ; and 
his inaugural address, full of promise and patriotism, received the general 
approval of his countrymen. Three days afterward [March 7] the Senate, in 
special session, confirmed his cabinet appointments,^ and the administration now 
[1856] drawing to a close began its work. 

The most serious diflSculty which President Pierce was called upon to 
encounter, at the commencement of his administration, was a dispute concern- 
ing the boundary line between the Mexican province of Chihuahua* and New 
Mexico.^ The Mesilla valley, a fertile and extensive region, was claimed by 
both Territories; and under the direction of Santa Anna," who was again Pres- 
ident of the Mexican Republic in 1854, Chihuahua took armed possession 
of the disputed territory. For a time war seemed inevitable between the 
United States "and Mexico. The dispute was finally settled by negotiations ; 
but events are continually transpiring on the borders of the two countries, cal- 
culated to produce much irritation of feeling. The people of Mexico are 
becoming every year more impatient of the arbitrary rule of military leaders, 
and insurrection after insurrection continually disturb the Republic. The 
youth of the present generation will probably observe the rule of the United 
States eventually extended over the whole of that unhappy country. 

A few days after the expedition under the command of Dr. Kane left New 
York, in May, 1853, another, consisting of four armed vessels and a supply- 
ship, sailed from Norfolk, under the command of Captain Ringgold, of the 
United States Navy. Its destination was the eastern coast of Asia, and its 
object a thorough exploration of those regions of the Pacific Ocean yet to be 
traversed by vessels passing between the ports of our western frontier and 
China, and of the whaling grounds of the Sea of Okotsk and Behring's Straits. 
This expedition returned in the summer of 1856, having accomplished many of 
the objects for which it was sent out. In the mean while, plans had been sug- 

* George "Washington Parke Custis, of Arlington House, Virginia, a grandson of Mrs. "Washing- 
ton, and adopted son of the Father of his Country. He is now [Dec., 1856] the only surviving ex- 
ecutor of the last "Will of "Washington. ' Page 361. 

^ "William L. Marcj, Secretary of State ; James Guthrie, Secretary of the Treasury ; Robert 
McClelland, Secretary of the Interior ; Jefferson Davis, Secretary of "War ; James C. Dobbin, Sec- 
retary of the Navy ; James Campbell, Postmaster-General; Caleb Cushuig, 
Attorney-General * Note 7, page 484. '' Page 497. 

° Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna is a native of Mexico, and first camo 
into public life in 1821, during the excitements of revolution. He has 
been one of the chief revolutionists in that unhappy country. He was 
chosen President of the Republic in 1833. After an exciting career as 
a commanding General, he was again elected President in 1841, but was 
hurled from power in 1845. After the capture of the city of Mexico by 
the Americans under General Scott [page 494], he retired to the West 
Indies, and finally to Carthagena, where he resided until 1853, when he 
returned to Mexico, and was elected President again. In the summer 
of 1854, he was accused of a design to assume imperial power, and 
violent insurrections were the consequence. These resulted in his being 
again deprived of power; and now [1856] he is in exile. Few men 
have experienced greater vicissitudes than Santa Anna. santa anna. 




516 THE CONFEDERATION. [1853. 

gested, and some matured, for the construction of one or more railways from 
the Mississippi valley across the continent to the Pacific coast. This subject 
yet [1856] occupies a prominent place in the public mind, and is next in 
importance, as a national question, to that of human slavery, now the great 
and absorbing topic of the time. The thirty-second Congress, at its last session,* 
authorized surveys for the selection of the best path for such railroad ; and by 
mid-summer [1853] four expeditions were fitted out to explore as many differ- 
ent routes. One, under INIajor Stephens, was instructed to survey a northern 
route from the upper waters of the Mississippi to Puget's Sound. The course 
to be taken was from St. Paul's, in Minnesota, to the Great Bend of the Mis- 
souri river ; thence on the table land between the IMissouri and Saskatchawan 
rivers, to the most available pass in the Rocky Mountains. A second expe- 
dition, under Lieutenant Whipple, Avas directed to cross the continent from the 
Mississippi, along a line adjacent to the 36th parallel of latitude. It was to 
proceed from the Mississippi, along the head v.aters of the Canadian river, 
across the Rio Peco, and enter the valley of the Rio del Norte near Albu- 
querque, thence through Walker's Pass in the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific, 
on the coast of Southern California, near San Pedro, Los Angelos, or San 
Diego. A third, under Captain Gunnison, was to proceed through the Rocky 
Mountains, near the head waters of the Del Norte, by way of the Heurfano 
river, into the valley of the Greene and Grand rivers, thence westwardly along 
the Nicollet river of the Great Basin, and north, by Avay of the Great Salt 
Lake in Utah." A fourth was to leave the more southern portions of the Mis- 
sissippi, and reach the Pacific somewhere in LoAver California — perhaps at San 
Diego. These expeditions' were intended, by their combined operations, to 
sweep the whole area of our territory between the INIississippi and the Pacific. 
Their work is not yet [1856] accomplished. They have been compelled to 
encounter the most discouraging obstacles,^ but the results will be of infinite 
importance, not only to our country, but to the world. These, taken in con- 
nection with the operations of portions of the navy of the United States, 

in explorations, certainly rank among the 
most important movements of the age. 
Who can estimate the eifect of a consumma- 
tion of these gigantic plans, upon the growth 
and prosperity of the United States, when 
the Pacific's shores shall be reached by rail- 
ways, and steamships shall ply regularly be- 
AN OCEAN sTEAMsmp. twccn thcsc termini and that " farther India," 

' Note 3, page 3G6. " Pago 504. 

^ Late in the autumn of 1853, Colonel Fremont started -with a number of men, to explore tho 
Cochatope Pa?s, in mid-winter, and ascertain, by his own observation, whether the snows were so deep 
at tliat season of the year, as to render raih'oad travel throu,£:;h there impracticable. He and his party 
suffered torribl^v. Forty-five days they fed.on mules, which, from want of food, could go no further, 
and were killed and eaten — cver\' particle, even to the entrails! They were met and relieved by 
another party on the 19th of Februar}-, 1854- This was Fremont's fifth and last exploring expedition. 

* In February, 1854, the Indians of the Wasatch Mountains attacked Captain Gunnison's 
party, and slew the leader and several of his men. Their remains were afterward found by another 
party, when tho spring sun had melted tho snow. 




1857.] 



PIERQE'S ADMINISTRATION. 



517 



whose wealth the commercial world has so long coveted ?' The beaten tracks of 
commerce will be changed, and teeming marts will burst into existence where 
now the dwindling tribes of the forest build their wigwams," and gaze musingly 
upon the sunset, the emblem of their own destiny.^ 

In the year 1851 an immense building, made of iron and glass, was erected 
in Hyde Park, London, under royal patronage :* and within it an exhibition of 
the industry of all nations was opened on the 1st of May of that year. It was 
a AVorld's Fair; and representatives from every civilized nation of the globe 
were there, mingling together as brothers of one family, and all ccpially inter- 
ested in the perfection of each other's productions. The idea was one of great 
moral grandeur, for it set an insignia of dignity upon labor, hitherto withheld 
by those who bore scepters and orders. There men of all nations and creeds 
received a lesson upon the importance of brotherhood among the childi*en of 
men, such as the pen and tongue could not teach ; and they are now diffusing 
the blessings of that lesson among their several peoples, the fruits of which will 
be seen by future generations. 
Pleased with the idea of a 
" "World's Fair," Americans 
repeated its development upon 
their own free soil. In the 
heart of the commercial me- 
tropolis of the New World — 
the city of New York — a 
" Crystal Palace" was erect- 
ed; and on the 14th of July, 
1853, an exhibition of the in- 
dustry of all nations was open- 
ed there with imposing ceremonies led by the presiding Chief JNIagistrate of the 
United States.^ For several months the Palace was throno;ed with delifjhted 
visitors ; and on the 4th of May, 1854, it was re-opened with impressive cere- 
monies as a perpetual exhibition. There, in that beautiful Palace, Labor was 
crowned as the supreme dignity of a nation and of the world." Although the 

' Note 4, paga 38. " Page 13. ^ Page 33. 

* Tin chief patron was Prince Albert, husband of Victoria, queen of Groat Britain. 

^ On that occasion, prayer was read by Dr. Wainwright, provisional bi.^hop of the Protestant 
Episcopal Church in the diocese of New York (since deceased) ; an address was pronounced by 
Theodoro Sedgwick, president of the Association by which the building was erected ; and on tho 
16th of tho month, a grand entertainment was given by tho directors to distinguished guests, 
among whom were tho President of the United States, and members of his cabinet ; Sir Charles 
Lyell, tho eminent English geologist, and others. 

" 0:10 of the speakers on that occa.«ion [I'^lihu Burritt] said : " "Worth}' of tho grandest circum- 
stanc:^s which could be thrown around a human assembly, worthy of this occasion and a hundred 
like this, is that beautiful idea, the coronation of Labor. * =•'• '•• Not American labor, not British 
labor, not French libor. not tho labor of the New World or the Old, but tho labor of mankind as ono 
undivilcd brotherhood — labor as the oldest, the noblest, prerogative of duty and humanity." And 
Rev. 10. IT. Cliapin closi'd with the beautiful invocation : "0! genius of .\rt, fill us with the inspir- 
ation of still higher and more spiritual beauty. ! instruments of invention, enlarge our dominion 
over reality. Let iron and fire become as blood and muscle, and in this electric net-work let heart 
and brain inclose the world with truth and .sympathy. And thou, 0! beautiful dome of light, sug- 
gestive of the brooding future, tho future of human love and dkine communion, expand and spread 
above tho tribes of men, a canopy broad as tho earth, and glorious as the upper heaven." 




CRYSTAL P.VL.VCE IN NEW YORK. 




518 THE CONFEDERATION. [1853. 

whole proceedings were but an ephemeral show, and the scheme of a perpetual 
exkibition bus utterly failed, the event will ever remain a prominent initial let- 
ter, beautifully illuminated, on the pages of our history. 

In the same month [July, 1853] an event occurred which greatly increased 
the respect of foreign nations for the flag of the United States. A Hungarian 
refugee,' named Martin Koszta, had taken the legal measures to become a nat- 
uralized citizen of our republic. While engaged in bus- 
iness at Smyrna, on the Mediterranean, he was seized, 
by order of the Austrian consul-general," and taken on 
board an Austrian brig to be conveyed to Trieste as a 
rebel refuo-ee, notwithstanding he carried an American 
protection. Captain Ingraham, of the United States 
sloop-of-war^ St. Louis, then lying in the harbor of 
Smyrna, immediately claimed Koszta as an American 
citizen. On the refusal of the Austrian authorities to 
release the prisoner, Ingraham cleared his vessel for 

CAPTAIN INGRAHAM. %^ i i 

action [July 2], and threatened to fire upon the brig if 
Koszta Avas not delivered up within a given time. The Austrians yielded to the 
powerful arguments of forty well-shotted cannons, and Koszta was placed in the 
custody of the French consul, to await the action of the respective governments. 
Ingraham's course was everywhere applauded ; and Congress signified its appro- 
bation by voting him an elegant sword. The pride of the Austrian government 
was severely wounded, and it issued a protest against the proceedings of Cap- 
tain Ingraham, and sent it to all the European courts. Mr. Hulseman, the 
Austrian minister at Washington,'' demanded an apology, or other redress, from 
our government, and menaced the United States with the displeasure of his royal 
master. But no serious difficulty occurred. It was plainly perceived that the 
Austrians were in the wrong ; and Koszta, under the protection of the United 
States flag, returned to this land of free opinions. 

On the first Monday in December, 1853, the thirty-third Congress (first 
session)'^ assembled in the Federal capitol. A greater degree of good feeling 
was exhibited among members of both Houses, from all parts of the Union, than 
had been witnessed since the excitement incident to the slavery agitation in 
1850." The people regarded the session as one of great moment, for subjects 
of vast national importance would necessarily occupy the attention of their rep- 
resentatives. The construction of a railway to the Pacific Ocean' was a topic 
of paramount importance to be discussed. There were treaties in progress 
respecting boundaries and claims between the United States and their southern 
neighbors, Mexico and Central America, chiefly concerning grants of territory for 
inter-oceanic communications across the Isthmus ; and boundary lines between 

' When Austria, by the aid of Russia [note 1, pao:e 511], crushed the rebellion in Hungary, in 
1848, many of the active patriots became exiles in foreign lands. A large number came to the 
United States, and many of them became naturalized citizens — that is, after due legal preparation, 
took an oath to support the Constitution and laws of the United States, and to perform faithfully 
all the duties of a citizen. ' Note 1, page .^95. 3 Page 415. 

* Note 3, page 511. * Note 3, page 366. '^ Page 500. ' Page 516. 



1857.] PIERCE'S ADMINISTRATION. 5I9 

New Mexico, California, and Old Mexico. The government of the Sandwich 
Islands was then making earnest overtures for annexing that ocean empire to our 
republic. This was a matter of great interest ; for these Islands are destined 
to be of vast importance in the operations of the future commerce of the Pacific 
Ocean. A great majority of the white people there are Americans by birth • 
and the government, in all its essential operations, is controlled by Americans, 
notwithstanding the ostensible ruler is a native king. The consuls of France 
and England, when they perceived a disposition on the part of the king to have 
his domain annexed to the United States, charged the scheme upon certain 
American missionaries, and officially protested against their alleged conduct. 
They declared that France and England would not remain indifferent spectators 
of such a movement. The missionaries, as well as the United States commis- 
sioner, disclaimed any tampering with the native authorities on the subject ; at 
the same time, the latter, in a published reply to the protest, denied the right 
of foreign governments to interfere to prevent such a result, if it should be 
deemed mutually desirable. Preliminary negotiations were commenced, and a 
treaty was actually formed, Avhen, on the 15th of December, 1854, King Kam- 
ehameha died, at the age of forty-nine years, and was succeeded by his son, 
Prince Alexander Liholiho. The new king immediately ordered the discontin- 
uance of negotiations with the United States, and the subject of annexation has 
not since been revived. That such annexation will finally occur, is surely 
prophesied by the history of the past and the teachings of the present. 

Just as the preliminaries were arranged in Congress for entering vigorously 
upon the business of the session, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Ter- 
ritories (Mr. Douglas, of Illinois) presented a bill [Jan., 1854] which disturbed 
the harmony in Congress and quietude among the people. In the center of our 
continent is a vast region, almost twice as large, in territorial extent, as the 
original thirteen States,' stretching betw^een Missouri, Iowa, and Minnesota, 
and the Pacific Territories, from the thirty-seventh parallel of north latitude to 
the British possessions," and embracing one fourth of all the public lands of the 
United States. The bill alluded to proposed to erect this vast region into two 
Territories, the southern portion below the fortieth parallel to be named Kan- 
sas^ and the northern and larger portion, Nebraska. It defined the boundaries 
oi Nebraska, as follows: " Beginning at a point in the Missouri Hiver where 
the fortieth parallel north latitude crosses the same ; thence west on said paral- 
lel to the summits of the highlands separating the waters flowing into the waters 
of the Green River, or Colorado of the West, from the waters flowing into the 
great lakes ; thence northward on the said highlands to the summit of the 
Rocky Mountains ; thence on said summit nortliward to the forty-ninth paral- 
lel of north latitude ; thence east on said parallel to the western boundary of 
the Territory of Minnesota ; thence southward on said boundary to the ^lis- 
souri River ; thence down the main channel of said river to the place of begin- 
ning." It also thus defines the boundaries of Kansas : " Beginning at a point 

» Page 174. ' Pago 480. 



520 THE CONFEDERATION. [1853. 

on the western boundary of the State of Missouri where the thirty-seventh par- 
allel of north latitude crosses the same ; thence west on said parallel to the 
eastern boundary of New Mexico ; thence north on said boundary to latitude 
thirty-eight; thence following said boundary Avestward to the summit of the 
highlands dividing the waters flowing into the Colorado of the West, or Green 
River, from the waters flowing into the great basin ; thence northward on said 
summit to the fortieth parallel of latitude ; thence east on said parallel to the 
western boundary of the State of Missouri ; thence south with the western 
boundary of said State, to the place of beginning." 

The Kansas-Nebraska Bill, as it was called, contained a provision which 
would nullify the Compromises of 1820' and 1850, "^ and allow the establishment 
of the institution of slavery therein, notwithstanding almost the entire area of 
Nebraska would lie north of the line specified in the Missouri Compromise. 
This proposition surprised Congress and the whole country, and it became a 
subject of discussion throughout the Union. The slavery agitation was aroused 
in all its strength and rancor, and the whole. North became violently excited. 
Public meetings were held by men of all parties, and petitions and remon- 
strances against the measure, especially in its relation to Nebraska, were poured 
into the Senate,^ while the debate on the subject was progressing, from the 14th 
of February [1854] until the 7th of March. On the latter day the bill passed 
that body by the decisive vote of thirty-seven to fourteen. The measure en- 
countered great opposition in the House of Representatives ; and by means of 
several amendments, its final defeat seemed almost certain, and the excitement 
subsided. At about the same time a bill was reported in the Senate [March 
10], providing for the construction of a railway to the Pacific Ocean ; and on 
the same day when the Nebraska Bill passed that body [March 7], the House 
of Representatives adopted one called the Homestead Bill, which provided that 
any free white male citizen, or any one who may have declared his intentions to 
become one previous to the passage of this act, might select a quarter section 
[one hundred and sixty acres] of land, on the public domain, and on proof 
being given that he had occupied and cultivated it for five years,, he might re- 
ceive a title to it, in fee, without being required to pay any thing for it. This 
bill was discussed in both Houses for several weeks ; and finally an amendment, 
graduating the prices of all the public lands, was adopted in its stead. It pro- 
vided that all lands which have been in market ten years shall be subject to 
entry at one dollar per acre ; fifteen years, at seventy-five cents ; and so on, in 
the same ratio— those which have been in the market for thirty years being 
offered at twelve and a half cents. It also provided that every person availing 
himself of the act should make affidavit that he enters the land for his own use ; 
and no one can ac([uire more than three hundred and twenty acres, or two 
quarter sections. 

The public mind had become comparatively tranquil Avhen, on the 0th of 

■ Page 452. » Page 501. 

' A petition against the measure was presented to the Senate immediately after the passage of 
J;he bill by that body, signed by three thousand clergymen of Now England. 



185T.] PIERCE'S ADMINISTRATION. 521 

May, the Nebraska bill -was again called up in the House of Representatives, 
and a motion was made by one of its supporters, to close all debate on the sub- 
ject within five minutes after the House should resume its consideration. This 
movement, so arbitrary in its intentions and ungenerous in its character, pro- 
duced intense excitement in that body, and a session of thirty-six consecutive 
hours" duration ensued, when an adjournment took place, in the midst of great 
confusion. The final question was taken on the 22d, and the bill was passed 
by a vote of one hundred and thirteen to one hundred. Three days afterward 
[May 25], the Senate agreed to it as it came from the House, by a vote of 
thirty-five to thirteen, and it received the signature of the President on the last 
day of May. Prophets of evil regarded this event as the egg of much future 
trouldc ;' nor were they mistaken, as we shall perceive presently. 

New difiiculties with the Spanish authorities of Cuba' appeared, while the 
Nebraska subject was under discussion. Under cover of a shallow pretense, 
the American steamship. Black Warrio}-, was seized in the harbor of Havana 
[February 28, 1854], and the vessel and cargo declared confiscated. The out- 
rage Avas so flagrant, that a proposition was immediately submitted to the lower 
House of Congress, to suspend the neutrality laws, and compel the Havana 
ofiicials to behave properly. These are agreements made between the govern- 
ments of the United States and Old Spain, to remain neutral or inactive when 
cither party should engage in war with another. Under the provisions of such 
laws, any number of citizens of the United States, who may be engaged in hos- 
tilities against Spain, would forfeit the protection of their government, and 
become liable to punishment, for a violation of law. It was on this account 
that Crittenden and his party were shot at Havana,^ without the right of claim- 
ing the interference of the government of the United States in their behalf 
The President sent a special messenger to the government at Madrid, with 
instructions to the American minister to demand immediate redress, in the form 
of indemnity to the owners of the Black Warrior. But the Spanish govern- 
ment justified the act of the Cuban authorities, when such formal demand was 
made. In the mean while the perpeti-ators of the outrage became alarmed, and 
the Captain General (or Governor) of Cuba, with pretended generosity, offered 
to give up the vessel and cargo, on the payment by the owners, of a fine of six 
thousand dollars. They complied, but under protest.^ The matter was finally 
settled amicably between the governments of the United States and Spain," and 



' A few days after tho final passage of the Nebraska bill, the city of Boston was made a 
theater of great'excitement, by the arrest of a fugitive slave there, and a deputy-niarslial was .sliot 
dead, during a riot. United States troops from Rhode Island were employed, to sustain tlie officers 
of the law, and a local military force was detailed, to assist in tlie protection of tlic court and tho 
parties concerned, until tho trial of the alleged fugitive was completed. The United States Com- 
missioner decided in favor of the claimant of the slave, and he was conveyed to Virginia by a gov- 
ernment vessel. This commotion in Boston is known as the Burns Riot — the name of the fugitive 
slave being Burns. - Page 502. ' R-i.U'c f>08. 

* Protesting against an act which a party is compelled to perform, leaves the matter open 
for a future discussion and final settlement. 

^ The President of the United States having been informed tiiat expeditions were preparing in 
difierent parts of the Union, for the purpose of invading Cuba, issued a proclamation against such 
movements, on tlie 1st of June, 1S54, and called upon all y:ood citizens to respect the obligations 
of existing treaties, between the governments of our Republic and Spain. 



522 THE CONFEDERATION". [1853. 

since then nothing has materiallj disturbed the friendly relations between the 
two countries. The conduct of the government officials of Cuba may at any 
time terminate that friendship, so long as they are allowed to take shelter 
behind the imperial throne at Madrid. The commercial transactions, and the 
continual passenger intercourse between the United States and that island, have 
now become so important and extensive, that it is felt to be a necessity for the 
Spanish authorities there to be made immediately responsible for any outrage 
they may commit. The people of the United States do not feel disposed to 
tolerate irresponsible despotisms so near the line of their commercial operations. 
And so strong is the indignation of the people of some portions of our Union, 
against the Cuban officials — so attractive is that " Queen of the Antilles" to 
the acquisitiveness of another portion, and so powerful is the tendency of a 
spirit of adventure toward an invasion of the island, to assist the native popula- 
tion in casting off the Spanish yoke' — that a rupture may at any time occur. 

The impending difficulties with Spain, in the summer of 1854, led to an 
important conference of some of the American ministers plenipotentiary in 
Europe. In August, 1854, the President directed Mr. Buchanan," then 
American embassador at London, Mr. Mason, embassador at Paris, and Mr. 
Soulc, embassador at Madrid, to meet at some convenient place, to confer upon 
the best means of settling the difficulties about Cuba, and gaining possession of 
the island, by purchase or otherwise. They accordingly met at Ostend, a sea- 
port town in Belgium, on the 9th of October, 1854. After remaining there 
three days, they adjourned to Aix-la-Chapelle, in Rhenish Prussia, and from 
thence, on the 18th of the same month, they addressed a letter to the United 
States government, which embodied their views. In that letter, they recom- 
mended the purchase of Cuba ; or, if negotiation toward that end should fail — 
"if Spain," they said, "actuated by stubborn pride and a false sense of honor, 
should refuse to sell Cuba to the United States," then, "by every law, human 
and divine, we [the United States] shall be justified in wresting it from Spain, 
if we possess the power." This doctrine, that "might makes right," has been 
strongly condemned, Avhen promulgated by other nations, and a large proportion 
of the people of the Union do not coincide with the views of their embassadors 
on that occasion. The President did not deem it advisable to follow the course 
indicated by the embassadors, and since then nothing has been done in relation 
to the political position of Cuba toward the United States. 

Early in the summer of 1854. a treaty was negotiated and ratified by the 
United States and Mexico, by which the boundaries between the two govern- 
ments were defined and settled. By it, the dividing line begins in the Gulf of 
Mexico, three leagues from land, opposite the mouth of the Rio Grande, thence 
up the middle of that river, to the point where the parallel of 31 47' north 
latitude, crosses the same ; thence due west one hundred miles ; thence south to 
the parallel of 31" 20' north latitude; thence along the said parallel to the 
111th meridian of longitude west of Greenwich ; thence in a straight line to a 

* Page 41. " Page 532. 



1857.] PIERCE'S ADMINISTRATION. 503 

point in the Colorado river, twenty English miles below the junction of the 
Gila and Colorado rivers ; thence up the middle of the Colorado until it inter- 
sects the present line between the United States and Mexico. The decision of 
the commissioners appointed to run the boundary, under the treaty, was to be 
final ; the United States were to be released from all obligations imposed by 
the treaty of Guadaloupc Hidalgo,* to defend the Mexican frontier against the 
Indians, and in consideration for this release, and for the territory ceded by 
Mexico, the United States agreed to pay ten millions of dollars — seven millions 
on the ratification of the treaty, and tlio remainder as soon as the boundary 
line should be established. These conditions have been complied with, and 
nothing except private invasions of the Mexican territory, by armed citizens of 
the United States, now [1856] seems likely to disturb the present friendly 
relations between the two governments. 

At about the same time, a reciprocity treaty was negotiated between the 
United States and Great Britain, which lowered, and in some instances eftaced, 
the barriers to free commerce between the British provinces in America and 
our Confederation. It provided that the fisheries of the provinces, except those 
of Newfoundland," should be open to American citizens ; that disputes respect- 
ing fisheries should be settled by arbitration ; that the British should have a 
right to participate in the American fisheries as fiir as the 3Gth degree of north 
latitude ; that there should be free commerce between the provinces and the 
United States, in flour, breadstuff's, fruits, fish, animals, lumber, and a variety 
of natural productions in their unmanufactured state. It stipulated that tlu; 
St. Lawrence River and the Canadian canals should be throAvn open to Amer- 
ican vessels ; and the United States government agreed to urge the respective 
States to admit British vessels into their canals, upon similar terms. This 
treaty was submitted to the provincial Legislatures, and to the governments of 
the contracting powers, and was ratified by all. 

Ever since the war with Mexico, and the extension of the territory of the 
United States in the direction of Central America, and down the Pacific coast, 
the relations of the Federal government toward the provinces of that region 
have been most of the time in a state of feverish discontent. The temptations 
presented by those countries, so rich in mineral and agricultural wealth, to the 
cupidity of the floating elements of society in the United States, have been too 
great for the easy virtue of adventurers, and from time to time, intelligence of 
some foray or some actual invasion of territory comes from thence, to alarm our 
government, call out proclamations and warnings against the infraction of inter- 
national laws or treaty stipulations, and to excite the ire, the jealousy, or the 
pugnacity of England, France, and Spain. 

Upon the great Isthmus between North and South America is a region 
known as the Musquito coast, inhabited, chiefly, by a degraded race of natives, 
but occupying an important commercial position, in prospective. It has 
been the desire of the people of the United States interested in commercial 

' Page 497. » Page 47. 



524 THE CONFEDERATION. [1853. 

operations, to have the control of that region, for purposes of transportation 
from ocean to ocean, and for free communication, by a short land route, 
with our State and Territories on the Pacific coast. It is equally the interest 
of Great Britain, as a commercial nation, to have control of that future great 
highway of commerce, by canal or otherwise ;' and these conflicting interests 
have at times menaced the friendly relations between England and the United 
States. In June, 1854, the little village of Greytown, on the Musquito coast, 
was bombarded by a United States vessel, in punishment for alleged outrages 
upon American citizens by the local authorities, Avho claimed to derive their 
power exclusively from the Musquito king. The English claimed, that by 
some arrangement with that monarch, that region was under the protection of 
her majesty's government, and the bombardment was denounced as an insult to 
Great Britain. For awhile the cloud of difficulty appeared ominous of evil, but 
it passed away in course of time, it being clearly perceived that the question 
at issue was not of sufficient importance for two nations, so allied by multifari- 
ous ties, to engage in a Avar with each other. 

Another speck of difficulty occurred in the far south-west. An alleged 
grant of territory, 1)y the king of the Musquito Indians, to two British subjects, 
led to serious misunderstandings. Colonel H. L. Kinney fitted out an expedi- 
tion, composed of alleged emigrants, to settle upon that claim by permission of 
the grantees, when the government of Nicaragua, which claimed jurisdiction 
over the Musquito Territory, protested against the movement as an invasion of- 
its domain, and in violation of the neutrality laws of the United States. This 
movement occurred in the autumn and early winter of 1854 ; and on the 16th 
of January following, the Nicarauguan minister at Washington made a repre- 
sentation to our government, setting forth the facts that the English had at- 
tempted to establish a protectorate over the iMusquito country ; that the United 
States had long ago taken the ground (and since maintained it) that no Euro- 
pean government should interfere with the domestic concerns of the republics of 
Central America,- and that the latter had thus virtually denied the right of the 
^lusquito king, acting under British influenee, to make any grants of lands 

' A railway across the Isthmus of Panama hns been constructed, and the first trains passed over 
it, from Aspinwall to Panama, on the 28th of January, 1855. The project of a ship-canal across 
the Isthmus of Daricn, or Panama, has occupied the attention of statesmen and commercial men for 
many years. The first actual exploration oftlie Isthmus, with a view to cutting a ship-canal across 
it, was made in 1853, by a party of twenty -three, under the direction of William Kennish, of New 
York. Tliey were sent out by J. C. Prevost, commander of the British steamship Virago, in pursu- 
ance of orders from the commander of the British squadron then in the Pacific. They commenced 
on tlie Pacific coast, and traveled northward to the Atlantic sliore. For ton daj-s they traversed a 
dense forest which covered a fine, fertile, and well-watered plain, whicli, at no time, rose more than 
fifty feet above the level of the sea. The party became short of provisions; and havin<j separated, 
for some prudent purpose, a portion of them were nnu'dered and plundered by the Indians. The 
survivors returned to the Virago, without accomplishing much. In January, 1854. Lieutenant 
Strain, of the United States Navy, witli a party of tv/enty, started from the Atlantic side to explore 
the Isthmus. They suffered dreadfully ; and as nothing was heard from them for several weeks, it 
was supposed that all had perished. Their provisions b?came exhausted, and some died from fam- 
ine. The Indians, however, did not molest them, but fied to the mountains. AViien Lieutenant 
Strain and the survivors readied the Pacific coast, they were destitute of both clothing and Ibod. 
Since then no attempt has been made to explore that dreary region. 

" The " Monroe Doctrine." See note 5, page 448. 



1857.] PIERCE'S ADMINISTRATION". 525 

whatever.' In rcplj to this, Colonel Kinney assured our government [January 
28, 1855] that the object of his expedition was the peaceable one of settlin^f 
upon and improving the lands of the granted tract. To this the government 
answered [Feb. 4], that if the emigrants chose to go in a peaceable manner, 
abandon all claims to the protection of the United States, and submit themselves 
to the jurisdiction of another power, the Federal government would not inter- 
fere. But the President and his cabinet had reasons for changing their views 
and actions a few months later, when it appeared probable that the expedition 
was not as peacefully iuclined as at first supposed. In June [1855], Colonel 
Kinney Avas arrested in New York and Philadelphia, on a charge of attemptino^ 
to violate the neutrality laws, and was admitted to bail in both cases. Notwith- 
standing these legal interpositions, Kinney secretly departed for Nicaragua, 
with half-a-dozen followers ; and a few weeks afterward he published a card, 
calling upon those who had enlisted, to join him at once, by whatever convey- 
ance they might obtain. In the mean while, the government of Nicaragua had 
issued a decree [Jan. 1, 1855], at Grenada, calling upon all citizens to aid the 
authorities in repelling the invasion, prohibiting Kinney and his companions 
from entering the territory, and directing them to be immediately seized and 
conducted to the seat of government. 

And now another phase of this emigration scheme was developed. Colonel 
William Walker, who. the year before, had invaded Sonova from California with 
a few followers, and had been repulsed, was aguin prepared for adventures. 
Colonel Kinney invited Walker to join him in improving his grant on Lake 
Nicaragua, and in developing its mineral resources. Walker soon left San 
Francisco, ostensibly for that purpose, with three hundred armed men. lie 
arrived on the coast of Nicaragua on the 2Tth of June, and the next day his 
hostile intentions were developed in an attempt to take possession of the town 
of Rivas. * He had been led to believe that large numbers of the inhabitants, 
tired of despotic v.ulc, would join him, but in this he was mistaken. Even one 
hundred and fifty Central American troops, under General Castillon, who had 
joined him, deserted when they saw the forces of Nicaragua approaching ; and 
Walker and his men, with the courage of desperation, cut their way through 
their opposers, reached the coast, and escaped in a schooner. 

In August, Colonel Walker again landed not far from Rivas, and unsuc- 
cessfully attempted to recruit from California passengers. In the mean while. 
Colonel Kinney was pursuing his peaceful course, having concluded a contract 
for a very largo portion of the Musquito Territory. The white people in that 
region, assuming independence of Nicaragua, organized a government, and on 
the 6th of September [1855], elected Kinney Chief Magistrate, with a Council 
of Five, as assistants. On the 3d of the same month. Walker, taking advan- 
tage of revolutionary movements in Nicaragua, had a battle with about four 
hundred government troops, at Virgin Bay. The government party were 

' For somo timo tho British had boea endeavoring to obtain a controlling influence in this 
region, and tlicy had induced tho chief of the Musquito nation to assume authority independent of 
tho Stato of Nicaraacua. 



526 THE CONFEDERATION. [1853. 

defeated, and on the 12th of October, Walker marched upon Grenada, the 
capital of Nicaragua, and captured it. When order was restored, the citizens, 
in public meeting, offered the presidency to the conqueror, but he declined the 
honor. General Rivas, a Nicaraguan, was placed in the presidential chair, 
while Walker, intent upon strengthening his army in order to maintain his 
conquest, was receiving large reinforcements from the Atlantic States, and 
from California. The British consul at Realejo recognized the new govern- 
ment, and it also received the favorable regard of Colonel Wheeler," the Amer- 
ican minister at Grenada. The new government now asserted its claim to the 
Musquito Territory,'* and when Colonel Kinney visited Grenada, to negotiate 
with the government on the subject of his grant, he was arrested on a charge 
of treasonable practices, and ordered to leave the country. 

The establishment of political power in Central America, by armed adven- 
turers from the United States, produced a great deal of uneasiness among the 
governments of the Isthmus, and in the winter of 1856, an alliance of all the 
other States in that region, against Nicaragua, was attempted. The latter, in 
the mean while, had made some arrangements with the British government, 
independent of the United States, for the settlement of the Musquito question, 
and the king of that country was placed on an equal footing with other native 
chiefs. Thus ended the Kinney government. 

Early in March, 1856, Costa Rica made a formal declaration of war against 
Nicaragua; and on the 10th of the same month, Walker made a corresponding 
declaration. The former government called upon all the Central American 
States to "unite and destroy the invaders from the North," Avhile Walker 
declared that he was there by invitation of-the Liberal party in Nicaragua. 

On the 20th of March hostilities commenced, and on the 11th of April a 
sanguinary conflict occurred, in which the Nicaraguans were the victors, and 
forced the Costa Ricans to retreat from the country. Walker's rttle became 
unpopular, because of his forced loan from the citizens of^Grenada, but he 
found strength by the refusal, at that time, of other States to join the Costa 
Ricans. But soon President Rivas himself, jealous of the Americans, became 
alienated from Walker, abandoned the government, and proclaimed against it. 
On the 24th of June [1856] a new election for President was held, when 
Walker received two thirds of the popular vote, and was inaugurated Chief 
Mao-istrate on the 12th of July. And now a general league of all the Central 
American States against him, was consummated, with Rivas in active command. 
In the mean while Walker's government had been acknowledged as legitimate 

' Colonel John H. Wheeler was a resident of western North Carolina, and while on his wa}- to 
New York to embark for Nicaragua, two of his slaves, who attended him, were detained in Phila- 
delphia [July 18 1855], through the instrumentality of persons there who sought to make them 
free One of these (Passmore Williamson) was ordered lay Judge Kane (father of Dr. Kane, the 
Arctic explorer), of the United States District Court, to bring the slaves before him. Williamson 
declared that the slaves had never been in his custody, and of course he could not produce them. 
On motion of Colonel Wheeler, Judge Kane committed WiUiamson to prison, for contempt of 
■ court where he remained for several months. This case, in connection with other questions in 
regard to slavery, produced great excitement throughout the country. Wilhamson, after his 
release, commenced a suit for felse imprisonment against Judge Kane. ' Page 523. 



1857.] PIERCE'S ADMINISTRATION. 52^ 

by the United States, and his minister cordially received [July] at Washing- 
ton.' Thus strengthened, he declared all the ports of the Central American 
States in a condition of blockade, and adopted sevei-e measures toward all dis- 
aflFected Nicaraguans. He managed affairs with vigor and skill ; and finally, 
on the 13th of October, he had a severe battle with his enemies at Grenada 
and utterly vanquished them." The league against Nicaragua appears to be 
weak indeed ; and as the hardy element of the North controls the political affairs 
of that little republic, there can be little doubt of its being a permanent State, 
under North American rule. 

Such, in brief, is the history of the establishment of a large State — the 
planting of a new and free empire — in the most important portion of Central 
America, by the prowess of men from the bosom of our Republic. Placing out 
of sight the means by which this end has been obtained, they challenge our 
sympathies, because they are firmly rooting, in a virgin soil, the principles of 
free government. We can not but regard this as a permanent empire, and des- 
tined, in the progress of events, to become a member of our broad and expand- 
ing confederation. 

During the spring of 1855, Cuba was in a state of continual alarm, from 
apprehensions of another invasion from the United States,' supported by an 
insurrection in the island. An extensive conspiracy had been detected, many 
suspected persons were arrested, and some were tried and executed. Among 
these was Estrampes, an alleged citizen of the United States, who was executed 
on the 30th of March, notwithstanding the strong protest of the United States 
consul. At about the same time, the United States steamers had been brought 
to, on their passage, by Spanish armed vessels, and our government dispatched 
a strong squadron to the Gulf to prevent and punish any indignity offered to our 
flag. This movement made the Cuban authorities more circumspect. 

Civilization has been compelled to encounter hostilities from the natives of 
our continent at almost every step of its progress ; and even now, when they 
have been driven back toward the shores of the Pacific, and they have dwindled 
in numbers to a handfull, in comparison with their former strength, they con- 
tinue, occasionally, to lift a feeble hand of resistance to the on-flowing tide of 
emigration, which presages their final and complete extinction.* Toward the 
close of 1855, the Indians of Oregon and Washington Territories,' commenced 
hostilities upon the settlers ; and ever since, the people there have suffered all 
the horrors of savage warfare upon them. In July, the Indians had murdered 
several miners in Rogue River Valley ; and later in the season, a battle, which 
lasted fifty hours, was fought in Yakimaw county, between United States troops 

' Several months before, Rivaa had sent as minister, Colonel Parker H. French, but the United 
States government refused to receive him. The accepted minister was Pather Yijil, a Roman 
Catholic priest. His stay in Washington was brief 

' The army of the League against Nicaragua, about four tliousand strong, took possession of 
Massaya on the 11th of October. On the same day. Walker, with a little more than eight hundred 
men, marched against them. He drove the enemy out, early on the morning of the 12th. At 
about 10 o'clock, he received intelligence that quite a" force had attacked Grenada. He immediately 
marched thither, and soon dispersed them, with verv little loss on his part. 

' Page 521. * Note 4, page 32. * Page 479. 



528 THE CONFEDERATION. [1853. 

and a large body of Indians. Nearly one fifth of the former were killed or 
wounded, and the remainder saved themselves by a desperate retreat, leaving 
baggage and stores behind them. The Indians were well armed, and there 
appeared to be a general combination among those extreme western tribes to 
exterminate the settlers. Still later in the season, whole families were mas- 
sacred; and General Wool,' then stationed at San Francisco, proceeded to 
Portland, in Oregon, to organize a campaign against them. 

On the 7th and 8th of December, 1855, a desperate battle was fought near 
the Walla-Walla River, between some volunteers and a large body of Indians, 
who lost their chief in the engas-ement, and were defeated. At about the same 
time, seven hundred Indians attacked the town of Seattle, in Washington Ter- 
ritory, north of Oregon, when the place was saved by the aid of some gallant 
marines from the sloop-of-war Decatur, lying there, the guns of vv'hich were 
turned upon the savages. During the winter and spring of 1856, these hostil- 
ities became quite general in both Territories, and General Wool seemed to be 
almost powerless in quelling them. On the 25th of March, eight hundred In- 
dians attacked a place in Oregon, called the Cascades, burned every building in 
the town, and a steamboat, and murdered several citizens. Further north the 
savages laid waste the whole country ; and it appeared, at one time, as if the set- 
tlements must be abandoned. Suspicions have been awakened that the depreda- 
tions in Washington Territory have been instigated by persons connected with 
the English Hudson's Bay Company, who have married Indian women. Fi- 
nally, late in summer, the troubles in Oregon were brought to an end, but 
further north, the knife, and hatchet, and musket were fe'arfully menacing the 
white settlements during the autumn. In the mean while there has been 
troubles with the Indians in California, on the borders of New Mexico and 
Texas, and in Florida, where a portion of those Seminoles, who have refused to 
go west of the Mississippi," seem disposed to defy the strong arm of the white 
people. 

Again, at the close of 1854 and during the winter and spring of 1855, cir- 
cumstances occurred which disturJjed the existing harmony of feeling between 
the governments of the United States and Great Britain. It had been apparent 
that enlistments of recruits for the English army in the Crimea were going on 
in American cities, under the sanction of British officials. This fact was certi- 
fied by the trial of two men at Philadelphia early in the autumn of 1855, on a 
charge of violating the neutrality laws of the United States. It was then 
clearly proved that enlistments had been made under the direct sanction of Mr. 
Crampton, the British minister at Washington. The United States government 
immediately remonstrated with that of Great Britain, and demanded the recall 
of Minister Crampton. The latter refused to comply ; and timid persons on 
both sides of the Atlantic prophesied inevitable war between the two countries. 
After waitino- several months, and participating in a friendly diplomatic corre- 
spondence with the British Government, the President dismissed Mr. Cramp- 



Noto 3, page 413. ' Pago 4GS. 



1857.] PIERCE'S ADMINISTR ATIOX. 599 

ton, and also the British consuls at New York, Philadelphia, and Cincinnati 
because of their complicity in violating neutrality laws. This action did not 
disturb the friendly relations between the two governments, as had been antici- 
pated. The American minister (Mr. Dallas) remained in London, but the 
British government had not. in December, 1856, filled the place made vacant 
by the departure of its representative from Washington. 

Indian wars,' foreign relations, and almost every other public topic, was, for 
many months previous to the presidential election in November, 1856, com- 
pletely overshadowed by the great question of the extension of human slavery 
into Territories of the United States, then free ; and upon that issue was the 
struggle for ascendancy in the choice of a Chief Magistrate for the Republic, 
which occurred on the 4th of that month. It has been observed that the pass- 
age of the Kansas-Nebraska Act'^ [May 27, 1854], and the repeal of the Mis- 
souri Compromise Act,' Avere regarded as ominous of much future trouble. 
That trouble came Avitli swift feet. The repeal of the Missouri Compromise left 
all territory belonging to the United States open to the social institutions of 
every section of the Union. Then commenced one of the most desperate strug- 
gles between the pro-slavery and anti-slavery peoi)le of our country, which had 
yet been seen. It was a struggle for immediate supremacy in Kansas, and 
future dominion in all the States yet to be admitted into the Confederation. 
Emigration to Kansas from the free States was at once urged by the opposers 
of slavery ; and on the 24th of July, 1854 (two months after the repeal of the 
Missouri Compromise Act), an Emigrant Aid Society, which had been incor- 
porated by the Legislature of Massachusetts in April previous, was formed in 
Boston. This movement excited the friends of slavery to action ; and in Mis- 
souri, combinations were at once formed to counteract it, under the various 
names of "Social Band,"' "Friends' Society," "Blue Lodge," "The Sons 
of the South," etc. Emigration soon commenced flowing into Kansas from the 
free States : and during the period from August to October, 1854, several towns 
were formed by these people.^ The Missourians also went into the Territory, 
and founded several towns f and in October, the appointed governor of Kansas, 
A. H. Reeder, arrived. "With the election in March following [1855], when 
a Territorial Legislature was chosen, commenced a reign of terror in Kansas, 
and for more than a year civil war raged in that beautiful land. All classes of 
men carried deadly weapons about their persons, and a slight or accidental quar- 
rel frequently produced uimsual violence. Finally, Governor Reeder departed 
for Washington [April 10, 1855] to consult with the Federal Government on 
the aflfiiirs of the Territory. 

Early in the autumn of 1855, and while the exasperation of both parties in 
Kansas was at its height, the free State men of the Territory held a convention 
[Sept. 5], and nominated Governor Reeder as a delegate in Congress, in place 



' Page 527. ' Page 521. ' Pages 452 and 501. 

* The free State settlers founded the towns of Lawrence, Topeka, Boston (now called Manhat- 
tan), Grasshopper Falls, Pawnee, and other settlements. 

* They founded Kickapoo, Doniphan, Atchison, and other places on the Missouri River. 

34 



530 THE CONFEDERATION. [1853. 

of General Whitfield, who had been chosen at a previous election, not, as was 
alleged, bj the votes of actual settlers, but by those of people from Missouri. 
Reeder was elected in October ; and when, on the 4th of February, 1856, Gen- 
eral Whitfield was admitted, provisionally, to a seat in Congress, he contested 
it with him. On the 11th of November [1855], the free State convention com- 
pleted a State Constitution, and submitted it to the people ; and on the 17th of 
January following, elections under it were held. On the 24th of that month, 
the President of the United States sent a special message to Congress, in which 
he represented the formation of the free State government in Kansas as an 
act of rebellion. 

Troubles still continued. Yiolence and bloodshed prevailed in that unhappy 
Territory. The accounts from Kansas being very contradictory and alarming, 
the House of Representatives, on the 19th of March, appointed a committee of 
three to proceed thither, investigate the whole matter, and report. They re- 
turned to Washington in June ; and on the 1st of July the majority of the 
committee presented their report, which concluded with the following summing 
up: 

" First. That each election in the Territory, held under the organic or alleged Territorial law, 
has been carried by organized invasions from the State of Missouri, by which the people of the 
Territory have been prevented from exercising the rights secured to them by the organic law. 

" Second. That the alleged Territorial Legislature was an illegally-constituted body, and had no 
power to pass vaUd laws, and their enactments are, therefore, null and void. 

" Third. That these alleged laws have not, as a general thing, been used to protect persons and 
property and to punish wrong, but for unlawful purposes. 

" Fourth. That the election under which the sitting delegate, .John "W. Whitfield, holds his seat, 
was not held in pursuance of any valid law, and that it should be regarded only as the expression 
of the choice of those resident citizens who voted for him. 

" Fifth. That the election under which the contesting delegate, Andrew H. Reeder, claims his 
seat, was not held in pursuance of law, and that it should be regarded only as the expression of 
the choice of the resident citizens who voted for him. 

" Sixth. That Andrew 11. Reeder received a greater number of votes of resident citizens than 
John W. Whitfield, for delegate. 

" Seventh. That in the present condition of the Territory, a fair election can not be held without 
a new census, a stringent and well-guarded election law, the selection of impartial judges, and the 
presence of United States troops at every place of election. 

'■ Eighth. That the various elections held by the people of the Territory, preliminary to the 
formation of the State government, have been as regular as the disturbed condition of the Territory 
would allow ; and that the Constitution passed by the convention, held in pursuance of said elec- 
tions, embodies the will of a majority of the people. 

" As it is not the province of your committee to suggest remedies for the existing troubles in 
the Territory of Kansas, they content themselves with the foregoing statement of facts." 

The minority report declared the statements of the majority to be ex parte, 
and in many cases untrue ; and thus, after a long investigation, and the excita- 
tion of high hopes that the committee would unanimously agree, and suggest 
some plan for the pacification of the Territory, both parties were dissatisfied 
with the result. As the autumn advanced, and the presidential election ap- 
proached, disturbances were less frequent and general. Isolated cases of 
violence, committed by persons of both parties, frequently occurred, nrd oixler 



1857.] PIERCE'S ADMINISTRATION. 53I 

was not fully restored when the year drew toward a close. The time when 
peace and prosperity shall prevail in that unhappy country, was yet an un- 
solved question. The events which have transpired there, appear as a foul blot 
upon our national escutcheon ; and the year 1856 will be looked back upon by 
American citizens with the deepest mortification, as an era of national disgrace. 
But the time has not yet arrived to write a truthful history of events there. 
There is now too much of the smoke of error to perceive the truth in its clear- 
ness. The pabulum of all the difficulty is the question of the extension of 
slavery over territory yet free, compounded with the selfish ambition of dem- 
agogues Avho are governed by those seven controlling principles — five loaves 
and two fishes. 

The question of the extension of slavery has now assumed a form and dimen- 
sion, which loom above all other national topics. Under its influence new politi- 
cal organizations have grown up : and in the presidential campaign of 1856, 
three contestants for the office of Chief ]\Iagistrate of the Republic, appeared, 
each the representative of a distinct party. For more than a year previously, a 
new organization, composed of men of all political creeds, united in opposition 
to the extension of slavery, had'bcen gathering force and bulk, until, when the 
presidential contest came on [November 4, 1856], it had assumed giant propor- 
tions in the Free States, and was looked upon kindly by many in the slave 
States. This is known as the Republican party. Long before its advent, 
another organization, at first secret in its operations, and known as the Amer- 
ican or Knoif^- Not king party, had become a great political power in the coun- 
try, its chief bond of union being opposition to foreign influence, and the dom- 
ination of Roman Catholicism in our political affairs. The old Democratic 
party, dating its modern organization at the election of President Jackson in 
1828,' had become divided and weakened; while the old Whig party" was vir- 
tually annihilated as a distinct organization, having real vitality. Thus appeared 
the several partisan forces early in 1856, when the leaders of each prepared to 
choose their respective standard-bearers for the presidential campaign. 

The American party held a national convention in Philadelphia, in Feb- 
ruary, 1856; and on the 22d of that month, nominated ex-President Fillmore," 
for re-election to the high office he had once held. Andrew J. Donelson, of 
Tennessee," was nominated for Yice-President. Subsequently, some of the 
Americans, disagreeing with their brethren on the subject of slavery, repudi- 
ated that nomination, but Mr. Fillmore continued his position as a nominee, 
and went into the election, having the support of a large number of the old 
Whig party. The two wings of the Democratic party became partially recon- 
ciled later in the season ; and on the 2d of June, delegates from each met in 
national convention at Cincinnati. After several ballotings, on the 5th, James 
Buchanan^ of Pennsylvania was unanimously nominated for President, and 
John C. Breckinridge, of Kentucky, for Vice-President. A national conven- 
tion of Republican delegates assembled at Philadelphia on tlie 1 7th of June, 

* Paore 459. " Note 2, page 466. ' Note 5, page 501. 

* Note 1, page 479. * Page 522. 



532 



THE CONFEDERATION. 



[1853. 



and nominated John C. Fremont," of California, for President, and William L. 
Dayton, of New Jersey, for Vice-President. The Democratic and Republican 
conventions promulgated, by resolutions, their respective principles and policy, 
to which the candidate of each subscribed, while the nominee of the American 
party referred his countrymen to his past acts as the exponents of his prin- 
ciples. 





^^^ie^fe.?^ 



^x^^^*:^^^^^^^^*^^^^^ 



Never, since the election of General Harrison, in 1840,' had there been so 
much excitement in the country, as during the presidential campaign of 1856. 
The great question of the extension of slavery was the leading topic with the 
Republicans ; while all parties used extraordinary efforts in support of their 
respective candidates. The contest finally ended on the 4th of November, 
and resulted in the election of James Buchanan,' as President of the United 

' Page 488. "" Page 473. 

^ James Buchanan was born in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, on the 23d of April, 1791. He 
was educated at Dickenson College, where he was graduated at the age of eighteen years. In 
1809 he was admitted to the bar, and was soon in successful practice in his native State. In 1814, 
when only twenty-three years of age, he was elected to a seat in the Legislature of Pennsylvania. 
This was his first prominent appearance in public life. In 1815 he distinguished himself in his 
State Legislature as an opponent of the United States Bank, and became one of the foremost men 
in the Republican party. He was elected to Congress in 1820, and there he soon became distin- 
guished as a speaker and debater. After ten years' service, he retired from Congress in 1831, when 
President Jackson appointed him minister to Russia. In 1833 he was elected to the United States 
Senate, where he also served ten years. President Polk called him to his cabinet, as Secretary of 
State ; 'and in 1849 he again retired to private life. In 1853 he was appointed minister to England; 
and in June, 1856, he was nominated for President of the United States. In November following 
he was elected to that high office. Mr. Buchanan is now [December, 1856] in the sixty-sixth year 
of his age. 



ISSY.] PIERCE'S ADMINISTRATION. 533 

States, and of John C. Breckinridge, as Vice-President. Already the politi- 
cal cauldron, recently so seething, has become quiescent. The rancor of party 
spirit has abated. The people of our beloved Union — the great conserva- 
tive masses who cling to it as the ark of freedom for the -world — acquiesce 
gracefully in the choice of the majority, and, with true faith, will hope for good 
tilings, while, Avith true love for our free institutions, they will work nobly for 
their perpetuation. 

The question of slavery still looms up, dark and ominous, asking for a solu- 
tion. In it are involved the })rinciples of moral right, political and social 
expediency, and a great pecuniary interest. It has ever been a vexing and per- 
plexing question, and has produced more heart-burnings — more '"envy, hatred, 
and malice, and all uncharitableness," among our people, than all other national 
questions which have arisen since the birth of the Republic. The prolific seed 
of the institution was brought here and planted, early ; and its mighty fruition 
is now our great and ABIDIXG trouble. In the same year when the Pilgrim 
Fathers,' fleeing from spiritual slavery, landed on the bleak shores of Massa- 
chusetts Bay, a Dutch vessel carried Africans to Virginia, and sold them to the 
English settlers there.'' To the humane impulses of Las Casas, a sagacious 
Romish priest, Western Africa is indebted for all its troubles connected with 
the foreign slave-trade. He had long witnessed the sunerings of the weak and 
gentle natives of the West India Islands, under the cruel rigors of Spanish 
bondage.^ He saw them perish by thousands ; and, moved by pity, he sug- 
gested that the more hardy Africans, who were continually at war with each 
other, and sold their ca])tivcs into slavery, should be substituted. The sanction 
of the Pope to this traffic was speedily obtained ; and before the close of the 
16th century, the whole Atlantic coast of Africa between the tropics, became 
one great slave mart. Tliat traffic had no justification in English laws, nor early 
colonial statutes ; yet it was permitted as a matter of policy ; and custom, in 
process of time, assumed tlic dignity of common law. 

When the Declaration of Independence was promulgated, its precepts struck 
at the root of human bondage in every form ; and effi)rts were made, in several 
States, to eradicate the institution, sometimes in the form of propositions for 
immediate, and at others for gradual, emancipation. It had been expelled from 
England by the decision of Lord Mansfield, just before the kindling of the 
American Revolution ;' and the most enlightened men in the colonies, regarding 
it with great disfavor, attempts were made, from time to time, to limit it. 



» Page 77. " Note 6, page 105. * Page 41. 

* This decision was in the case of James Somerset, :i native of Africa, who was carried to Tir- 
ginia, and sold as a slave, taken to England by his master, and there induced to assert iiis freedom. 
The lirst case of a shnilar nature on record in England, was in 1697, when it was held that negroes 
" being usuall^^ bought and sold among merchants, as mcrcliandisc, and al.«o being infidels, there 
might be a property in them sufficient to maintain trover." This position was overruled by Chief 
Jiistice Holt, who decided that " so soon as a negro lands in England, he is free." To this decision 
Cowpcr alludes, when he says, "Slaves can not breathe in England." In 1702, Justice Holt also 
decided that " there is no sm'h thing as a slave by the law of England." In 1729, an opinion was 
obtained, that "negroes legally enslaved elsewhere might be held as slaves in England, and that 
baptism was no bar to the master's claim." This was held as good law until Mansfield's decisioa 
above mentioned. 



534 I'HE CONFEDERATION. [1853. 

Among others, the famous ordinance of 1787, for the government of the terri- 
tory of the United States, north-west of the Ohio,' known as the North-westei'n 
Territory, stands forth prominent.'^ 

Although the words "slave" and "slavery" do not appear in the Federal 
Constitution, yet the institution is recognized there by fair implication, and the 
force of its provisions may not be evaded.' This was one of the important com- 
promises which the framers found necessary in order to have the sanction of a 
requisite number of States for that instrument.^ There stand the clauses, im- 
pregnable against sophistry, and their force can only be shaken or destroyed 
by actual amendment of the Constitution, in prescribed form. But to the sev- 
eral States, power to abolish the institution from within their respective limits, 
was conceded ; and in the course of years, several of the northern members of 
the Confederacy cast off the system by legislative enactments.* In Delaware, 
Maryland, Virginia, and Kentucky, there has been wide-spread discontent with 
slavery, as a social and economical institution. The ethical features of the 
question seem to admit of little controversy. It is its material features — its 
relation to the material and social interests of our common country, in which 
are involved vast private pecuniary interests — that claim attention. In this 
view of the case, all of the perplexing lineaments of the question are to be seen. 
These should be discussed with candor and forbearance. Harshness of speech 
is not argument, and never produces conviction. Harshness of action is not 
manly, and irritates rather than convinces ; and mutual recriminations, ungen- 
erous expressions, and flippant censures, only tend to alienate the affections of 
those who ought to live as brothers, conceding to each other sincerity of feeling 
and honesty of motives. To us and our institutions the nations of the Old 
World, aspiring to be free, are looking with anxious hearts and straining eyes, 
as the main hope of freedom for the race. Let us be true to our mission as the 
ark-bearers of Human Liberty ; and let each, in the spirit of true brotherly 
kindness, say to his neighbor, on all occasions — If thou hast a truth to utter, 
speak, and leave the result to God. 

We dare not attempt to lift the vail of the future, or predict the events of 

' Page 362. 

' In 1 784, efforts were made in the Continental Congress to restrict slavery. A select committee 
was appointed, consisting of Thomas Jefferson (the author of the Declaration of Independence), as 
chairman, and Messrs. Chase of Maryland (one of the signers of the Declaration), and Howell of Rhode 
Island. They reported a plan for the government of the Western Territory, then including the whole 
region west of the old thirteen States, as far south as the thirty-first degree of north latitude, and em- 
bracing several of our present slave States. The plan contemplated the ultimate division of this 
territory into seventeen States, eight of them below the latitude of the present city of Louisville, in 
Kentucky. Among the rules for the government of that region, reported by Mr. Jefferson, was the 
following: "That after the year 1800 of the Christian era, there shall be neither slavery nor invol- 
untary servitude in any of the said States, otherwise than in punishment of crimes, whereof the 
party shaU have been convicted to be personally guUty." This clause was stricken out [April 19, 
1784], on motion of Mr. Spaight, of North Carolina, seconded by Mr. Read, of South Carolina. A 
majority of the States were against striking it out, but the Articles of Confederation required a vote 
of nine States to carry a proposition. See Journals of Congress. In the ordinance of 1787 [see 
page 362], this rule, omitting the words "after the year 1800 of the Christian era," was incorpo- 
rated. 

^ See Federal Constitution, Supplement, No. VII. 

* Vermont was the only State in which slavery never existed. 

' Note 4, page 177. 



1857.] PIERCE'S ADMINISTRATION. 535 

to-morrow. Never was the human mind so active as now. There is a compar- 
ative quiet in the political and social atmosphere of the nations, but it is only 
the calm before the storm. There are cruel wrongs to be redressed — fearful 
reckonings to be made ; and in those days, the people of the United States will 
bear a conspicuous part as umpires. 

Here, on the verge of great events yet to be developed in the Old and New 
World, we pause in our wonderful story of the discovery,' settlement." and col- 
onization^ of this beautiful land, and the establishment of one of the noblest 
Republics the world ever saw, covering with the broad aegis of its power, a ter- 
ritory as extensive as that of old Rome in her palmiest days, when she was mis- 
tress of the world.* At the present we are engaged in the marvelous labor of 
founding new States, with a facility and power hitherto unknown. In our his- 
tory, the nineteenth century will be distinguished as the era of the birth of 
mighty empires— empires brought forth in the wildernesses of a vast continent 
— at whose baptism, statesmen and gospel-bearers, brave soldiers and gentle 
women, stand as sponsors, while the children of the forest look on in sorrow, 
for the ring of the hammer upon every corner-stone of the structures of civiliz- 
ation, is the knell of their extinction. Over them the free eagle may perch, as 
the emblem of their former sovereignty ; but the setting sun just above the 
peaks of the western hills, or over the billows of the Pacific, more truly symbol- 
izes their present and their future. Let us not take special pride in the extent 
and physical grandeur of our beloved country, but endeavor to have our hearts 
and minds thoroughly penetrated with the glorious thoughts of Alcaeus of My- 
telene, Avho asked and answered — 

"Wliat constitutes a State? 
Not high-raised battlement, or labored mound, 

Thick wall or moated gate ; 
Not cities proud, with spires and turrets crowned ; 

Not bays, and broad-armed ports, 
Where, laughing at the storms, rich navies ride ; 

Not starred and spangled courts, 
Where low-browed baseness wafts perfume to pride. 

No : men, high-minded men, 
With powers as for above dull brutes endued, 

' Page 40. " Page 61. ' Page 104. 

* The territorial extent of our Republic is ten times as large as that of Great Britain and France 
combined ; three times as large as the whole of France, Britain, Austria, Prussia, Spain, Portugal, 
Belgium, Holland, and Denmark together ; one and a half times as largo as the Rus.siaa empire in 
Europe, and only one sixth less than the area covered by the sixty States and Empires of Europe. 
The entire area in 1853, was 2,983,153 square miles. The internal trade of the United States is 
of vast extent. Its value amounted in 1853 (Lake and Western River trade), to more than 
$500,000,000, in which about 1 1,000,000 of our people are directly or indirectly interested. Accord- 
ing to the seventh enumeration of inhabitants of tlie United States, made in 1850, the total number 
was 23,191,876, of whom 19,553,068, are white people; 434,495, free colored; and 3,204,313 slaves. 
Taking the increase of population from 1840 to 1850, as a ba.sis for calculation, we may safely con- 
clude the population of the Ignited States to be, at this time [December, 1856], about 28,000,000. 
The mo.5t accessible works, in which are given, in detail, the progress of political events in the 
United States, from the formation of the Constitution until the present time, are Hildreth's History 
of the United States, second series ; and Wilhams's Statesman's Manual. The former closes with the 
year 1821 ; the latter is continued to the present year. 



530 THE CONFEDEEATION. [1853. 

In forest, brake, or den, 
As brutes excel cold rocks and brambles rude — 

Men, who their duties know. 
But know their rights, and knowing, dare maintain ; 

Prevent the long-aimed blow. 
And crush the tyrant while they rend the chain — 

These constitute a State.'''' 

Or with the more subtle thoughts of our own Simms, of South Carolina, who 

wrote — 

" The moral of the race is in the State, 
The secret germ for great development, 
Through countless generations : — all the hopes, 
The aims, the great ambition, the proud works. 
Virtues, performances, high desires, and deeds, 
"With countless pure and jirecious sentiments, 
Nursed in some few brave souls, that, stUl npart 
From the rude hunger of the multitude, 
Light fires, build altars, image out the God 
That makes the grand ideal. 
* * * A State 's the growth 
Of the great family of a thousand years. 
With all its grand community oF thought, 
Affections, faith, sentiments, as well 
As its material treasures. These are naught 
If that the faith, the virtues, and the will 
Be lacking to the race. The guardian State 
Keeps these immaculate. They are not yours. 
Or mine ; nor do they rest within the charge 
Of the mere feeders at the common crib. 
Of all the myriads keeping pace with us, 
Some seventy years of march." 






w 




j,o Baft- II > 



FouNDiNU New States. 



SUPPLEMENT. 



STATE PAPERS. 



SUPPLEMENT. 



THE STAMP ACT. 

The idea of producing a revenue by the sale of stamps and stamped paper 
in America was promulgated almost forty years before its final development in 
legislative enactment in 1765.' Sir William Keith advised the poUcy as early 
as 1728. In 1739 the London merchants advised the ministry to adopt the 
measure, and public writers from time to time suggested various ideas predicated 
upon the same idea. In 1750, Douglas, in his work on British America, 
recommended the levying of a stamp duty upon all legal writings and instru- 
ments. Dr. Franklin regarded the plan favorably : and Governor Sharpe of 
Maryland, was confident, in 1754, that Parliament would speedily make a 
statute for raising money by means of stamp duties. Lieutenant-Governor 
Delancey spoke in favor of it in the New York Assembly in 1755, and the fol- 
lowing year. Governor Shirley, of ^lassachusetts, urged Parliament to adopt a 
stamp tax The British press urged the measure in 1757, and it was confi- 
dently stated, that at least three hundred thousand dollars annually might thus 
be drawn from the colonies, Avithout the tax being sensibly felt. But William 
Pitt would not listen to the recommendation, for, like Walpole, twenty-five 
years before, he preferred to draw money into the treasury by the exercise of a 
liberal commercial policy toward the Americans. Notwithstanding public 
opinion in England appeared to bo decidedly favorable to the measure, it was 
not proposed by the ministry until 1764. It became a law in 1765, and was 
repealed hi 1766. Had not ministers been deceived by the representations of 
the stupid and selfish royal governors in America, it probably would never 
have been enacted. Those men were frequently too indolent or indifferent to 
make themselves acquainted with the real temper of the people. Regarding 
the mass as equally servile as their flatterers, they readily commended that fatal 
measure which proved the spark that lighted the flames of Revolution, and sev- 
ered forever the political connection between Great Britain and thu'teen of her 
American colonies. 

The following is a copy of the fiimous Stamp Act of 1765 : 
Whereas, by an act made in the last session of Parliament, several duties 
were granted, continued, and appropriated toward d efraying the expenses of 

' Page 213. 



542 SUPPLEMENT. 

defending, protecting, and securing the British colonies and plantations in 
America; and >Yhereas it is just and necessary that provision be made for 
raisino- a further revenue within your majesty's dominions in America, toward 
defraying the said expenses ; we, your majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, 
the Commons of Great Britain, in Parliament assembled, have therefore resolved 
to give and grant unto your majesty the several rates and duties hereinafter 
mentioned; and do humbly beseech your majesty that it may be enacted, and 
be it enacted by the king's most excellent majesty, by and with the advice and 
consent of the lords spiritual and temporal, and commons, in this present Par- 
liament assembled, and by the authority of the same, that from and after the 
first day of November, one thousand seven hundred and sixty-five, there shall 
be raised, levied, collected, and paid unto his majesty, his heirs, and successors, 
throughout the colonies and plantations in America, which now are. or hereafter 
may be, under the dominion of his majesty, his heirs and successors : 

For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, 
on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any declaration, plea, replica- 
tion, rejoinder, demurrer, or other pleading, or any copy thereof, in any court 
of law within the British colonies and plantations in America, a stamp duty of 
three pence. 

For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, 
on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any special bail, and appear- 
ance upon such bail in any such court, a stamp duty of two shillings. 

For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, 
on which may be engrossed, written, or printed, any petition, bill, answer, 
claim, plea, replication, rejoinder, demurrer, or other pleading, in any court of 
chancery or equity within the said colonies and plantations, a stamp duty of 
one shilling and sixpence. 

For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, 
on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any copy of any petition, bill, 
answer, claim, plea, replication, rejoinder, demurrer, or other pleading in any 
such court, a stamp duty of three pence. 

For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, 
on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any motion, libel, answer, 
alleo-ation, inventory, or renunciation in ecclesiastical matters, in any court of 
probate, court of the ordinary, or other court exercising ecclesiastical jurisdic- 
tion within the said colonies and plantations, a stamp duty of one shillhig. 

For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, 
on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any copy of any will (other 
than the probate thereof), monition, libel, answer, allegation, inventory, or 
renunciation in ecclesiastical matters, in any such court, a stamp duty of six 
pence. 

For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, 
on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any donation, presentation, 
collation, or institution, of or to any benefice, or any writ or instrument for the 
like purpose, or any register, entry, testimonial, or certificate of any degree 



THE STAMP ACT, 543 

taken in any university, academy, college, or seminary of learning within the 
said colonies and plantations, a stamp duty of two pounds. 

For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, 
on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any monition, libel, claim, 
answer, allegation, information, letter of request, execution, renunciation, inven- 
tory, or other pleading, in any admiralty court within the said colonies and 
plantations, a stamp duty of one shilling. 

For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, 
on which any copy of any such monition, libel, claim, answer, allegation, infor- 
mation, letter of request, execution, renunciation, inventory, or other pleading, 
shall be engrossed, written, or printed, a stamp duty of six pence. 

For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, 
on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any appeal, writ of error, writ 
of dower, ad quod damnum., certiorari, statute merchant, statute staple, attes- 
tation, or certificate, by any officer, or exemplification of any record or proceed- 
ing, in any court whatsoever, within the said colonies and plantations (except 
appeals, writs of error, certiorari, attestations, certificates, and exemplifications, 
for, or relating to the removal of any proceedings from before a single justice 
of the peace), a stamp duty of ten shillings. 

For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, 
on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any writ of covenant for levy- 
ing fines, writ of entry for suiFering a common recovery, or attachment issuing 
out of, or returnable into, any court within the said colonies and plantations, a 
stamp duty oljive shillings. 

For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, 
on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any judgment, decree, sen- 
tence, or dismission, or any record of ?iisi prius or j^ostea, in any court within 
the said colonies and plantations, a stamp duty oifour shillings. 

For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, 
on Avhich shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any affidavit, common bail, 
or appearance, interrogatory, deposition, rule, order or warrant of any court, 
or any dedimus potestatem., capias snbpccna, summons, compulsory citation, 
commission, recognizance, or any other writ, process, or mandate, issuing out 
of, or returnable into, any court, or any office belonging thereto, or any other 
proceeding therein, whatsoever, or any copy thereof, or of any record not 
herein before charged, within the said colonies and plantations (except warrants 
relating to criminal matters, and proceedings thereon, or relating thereto,) a 
stamp duty of one shilling. 

For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, 
on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any note or bill of ladmg, 
which shall be signed for any kind of goods, wares, or merchandise, to be 
exported from, or any cocket or clearance granted within the said colonies and 
plantations, a stamp duty of four pence. 

For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper. 
on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, letters of mart or commission 



544: SUPPLEMENT. 

for private ships of war, within the said colonies and plantations, a stamp duty 
of tiDcnty shUUngs. 

For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, 
on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any grant, appointment, or 
admission of, or to, any public beneficial ofiice or employment, for the space of 
one year, or any lesser time, of or above twenty j^oimds j^er annum, sterling 
money, in salary, fees, and perquisites, within the said colonies and plantations 
(except commissions and appointments of ofiicers of the aimy, navy, ordnance, 
or militia, of judges, and of justices of the peace), a stamp duty of ten sJdJlings. 

For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, 
on which any grant of any liberty, privilege, or franchise, under the seal or 
sign-manual of any governor, p]-oprietor, or pu1)lic oflBcer, alone, or in conjunc- 
tion with any other person or persons, or with any council, or any council and 
assembly, or any exemplification of the same, shall be engrossed, written, or 
printed, within the said colonies and plantations, a stamp duty of six jjoiaids. 

For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, 
on wdiich shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any license for retailing of 
spirituous liquors, to be granted to any person who shall take out the same, 
within the said colonies and plantations, a stamp duty of tiventy shillings. 

For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, 
on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any license for retailing of 
wine, to be granted to any person who shall not take out a license for retailing 
of spirituous liquors, within the said colonies and plantations, a stamp duty of 
four pounds. 

For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, 
on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any license for retailing of 
wine, to be granted to any person who shall take out a license for retailing of 
spirituous liquors, Avithin the said colonies and plantations, a stamp duty of 
three pounds. 

For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, 
on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any probate of will, letters of 
administration, or of guardianship for any estate above the value of twenty 
pounds, sterling money, within the British colonies and plantations upon the 
continent of America, the islands belonging thereto, and the Bermuda and 
Bahama Islands, a stamp duty o^five shillings. 

For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, 
on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any such probate, letters of 
administration or of guardianship, within all other parts of the British domin- 
ions in America, a stamp duty of ten shillings. 

For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, 
on which shall bo engrossed, written, or printed, any bond for securing the pay- 
ment of any sum of money, not exceeding the sum of ten pounds sterling 
money, within the British colonies and plantations upon the continent of Amer- 
ica, the islands belonging thereto, and the Bermuda and Bahama Islands, a 
stamp duty of six pence. 



THE STAMP ACT. 545 

For every skin or piece of vellara or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, 
on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any bond for securing the pay- 
ment of any sum of money above ten pounds, and not exceeding twenty pounds 
sterling money, within such colonies, plantations and islands, a stamp duty of 
one shiUmg. 

For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, 
on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any bond for securing the pay- 
ment of any sum of money above twenty pounds, and not exceeding forty 
pounds sterling money, within such colonies, plantations, and islands, a stamp 
duty of one shilling and six pence. 

For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, 
on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any order or warrant for sur- 
veying or setting out any quantity of land, not exceeding one hundred acres, 
issued by any governor, proprietor, or any public officer, alone, or in conjunc- 
tion with any other person or persons, or with any council, or any council and 
assepably, within the British colonies and plantations in America, a stamp duty 
of .six 2Jence. 

For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, 
on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any such order or warrant for 
surveying or setting out any quantity of land above one hundred, and not ex- 
ceeding two hundred acres, within the said colonies and plantations, a stamp 
duty of one shiUing. 

For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, 
on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any such order or warrant for 
surveying or setting out any quantity of land above two hundred, and not ex- 
ceeding three hundred and twenty acres, and in proportion for every such order 
or warrant for surveying or setting out every other three hundred and twenty 
acres Avithin the said colonies and plantations, a stamp duty of one shilling and 
six pence. 

For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, 
on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any original grant, or any 
deed, mesne conveyance, or other instrument whatsoever, by which any quan- 
tity of land, not exceeding one hundred acres, shall be granted, conveyed, or 
assigned, within the British colonies or plantations upon the continent of Amer- 
ica, the islands belonging thereto, and the Bermuda and Bahama Islands (ex- 
cept leases for any term not exceeding the term of twenty-one years), a stamp 
duty of 07ie shilling and six pence. 

For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, 
on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any such original grant, or 
any such deed, mesne conveyance, or other instrument whatsoever, by which 
any quantity of land above one hundred, and not exceeding two hundred acres, 
shall be granted, conveyed, or assigned, within such colonies, plantations, and 
islands, a stamp duty of tvo shillings. 

For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, 
on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any such original grant, or any 

35 



546 SUPPLEMENT. 

.Buch deed, mesne conveyance, or other instrument whatsoever, by which any 
quantity of land above two hundred, and not exceeding three hundred and 
twenty acres, shall be granted, conveyed, or assigned, and in proportion for 
every such grant, deed, mesne conveyance, or other instrument, granting, 
conveying, or assigning, overy other three hundred and twenty acres, within 
such colonies, plantations, and islands, a stamp duty of two shillings and six 
2)ence. 

For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, 
on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any such original grant, or any 
such deed, mesne conveyance, or other instrument whatsoever, by which any 
quantity of land, not exceeding one hundred acres, shall be granted, conveyed, 
or assigned, within all other parts of the British dominions in America, a stamp 
duty of three shllUiigs. 

For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, 
on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any such original grant, or any 
such deed, mesne conveyance, or other instrument whatsoever, by which any 
quadtity of land above one hundred, and not exceeding two hundred acres, shall 
be granted, conveyed, or assigned, within the same parts of the said dominions, 
a stamp duty oi four shillings. 

For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, 
on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any such original grant, or any 
such deed, mesne conveyance, or other instrument whatsoever, by which any 
quantity of land above two hundred, and not exceeding three hundred and 
twenty acres, shall be granted, conveyed, or assigned, and in proportion for 
every such grant, deed, mesne conveyance, or other instrument, granting, con- 
veying, or assigning, every other three hundred and twenty acres, within the 
same parts of the said dominions, a stamp duty o^ Jive sJtiJUngs. 

For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, 
on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any grant, appointment, or 
admission, of or to any beneficial office or employment, not herein before 
charged, above the value of twenty pounds per annum sterling money, in sal- 
ary, fees, and perquisites, or any exemplification of the same, within the Brit- 
ish colonies and plantations upon the continent of America, the islands belong- 
ing thereto, and the Bermuda and Bahama Islands (except commissions of 
officers of the army, navy, ordnance, or militia, and of justices of the peace), a 
stamp duty of fo^ir pounds. 

For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, 
on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any such grant, appointment, 
or admission, of or to any such public beneficial office or employment, or any 
exemplificatton of the same, within all other parts of the British dominions in 
America, a stamp duty of six po^oids. 

For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, 
on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any indenture, lease, convey- 
ance, contract, stipulation, bill of sale, charter party, protest, articles of ap- 
prenticeship or covenant (except the hire of servants not apprentices, and also 



THE STAMP ACT. g^« 

except such other matters aa herein before charged), withii:^tbc British colo- 
nies and plantations in America, a stamp duty of two shU.lln(js and six pence. 

For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper 
on which any warrant or order for auditing any public accounts, beneficial war- 
rant, order, grant, or certificate, under any public seal, or under the seal or 
sign-manual of any governor, proprietor, or public officer, alone, or in conjunc- 
tion Avith any person or persons, or with any council, or any council and assem- 
bly, hot herein before charged, or any passport or let-pass, surrender of office, 
or policy of assurance, shall be engrossed, written, or printed, within the said 
colonies and plantations (except warrants or orders for the service of the army, 
navy, ordnajjce, or militia, and grants of offices under twenty pounds per annum, 
in salary, fees, and perquisites), a stamp duty o^ five shilUvijs. 

For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, 
on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any notarial act, bond, deed, 
letter of attorney, procuration, mortgage, reie:ise, or other obligatory instru- 
ment, not herein before charged, within the said colonies and plantations, a 
stamp duty of tico shillhigs mid three jpence. 

For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, 
on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any register, entry, or enroll- 
ment of any grant, deed, or other instrument whatsover, herein before charged, 
within the said colonies and plantations, a stamp duty of three iience. 

For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, 
on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any register, entry, or enroll- 
ment of aiiy grant, deed, or other instrument whatsoever, not herein before 
charged, Avithin the said colonies and plantations, a stamp duty of tico shil- 
lings. 

And for and upon every pack of playing-cards, and all dice, which shall be 
Bold or used within the said colonies and plantations, the several stamp duties 
following (that is to say) : 

For every pack of such cards, one shilling. 

For every pair of such dice, ten shillings. 

And for and upon every paper called a 'pamphlet^ and upon every news- 
paper, containing public news or occurrences, which shall be printed, dispersed, 
and made public, within any of the said colonies and plantations, and for and 
upon such advertisements as are hereinafter mentioned, the respective duties 
following (that is to say) : 

For every such pamphlet and paper contained in a half sheet, or any lessor 
piece of paper which shall be so printed, a stamp duty of one half penny for 
every printed copy thereof 

For every such pamphlet and paper (being larger than a half sheet, and not 
exceeding one whole sheet), which shall be printed, a stamp duty of one penny 
for every printed copy thereof. 

For every pamphlet and paper, being larger than one whole sheet, and not 
exceeding six sheets in octavo, or in a lesser page, or not exceeding twelve 
sheets in quarto, or twenty sheets in folio, which shall be so printed, a duty 



5-18 



SUPPLEMENT. 



after the rate of ©ne shilling for every sheet of any kind of paper which shall 
be contained in one printed copy thereof 

'For every advertisement to be contained in any gazette, newspaper, or other 
paper, or any pamphlet which shall be so printed, a duty of two shillings. 

For every almanac, or calendar, for any one particular year, or for any 
time less than a year, which shall be written or printed on one side only of any 
one sheet, skin, or piece of paper, parchment, or vellum, within the said colo- 
nies and plantations, a stamp duty of two 23ence. 

For every other almanac or calendar, for any one particular year, which 
shall be written or printed within the said colonies and plantations, a stamp 
duty of four pence. 

And for every almanac or calendar; written or printed in the said colonies 
and plantations, to serve for several years, duties to the same amount respect- 
ively shall be paid for every such year. 

For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, 
on which any instrument, proceeding, or other matter or thing aforesaid, shall 
be engrossed, written, or printed, within the said colonies or plantations, in any 
other than the English language, a stamp duty of double the amount of the 
respective duties before charged thereon. 

And there shall be also paid, in the said colonies and plantations, a duty 
of six pence for every twenty shillings, in any sum not exceeding fifty pounds 
sterling money, which shall be given, paid, contracted, or agreed for, with, or 
in relation to, any clerk or apprentice, which shall be put or placed to or with 
any master or mistress, to learn any profession, trade, or employment. II. 
And also a duty of one shilling for every twenty shillings, in any sum exceed- 
ing fifty pounds, which shall be given, paid, contracted, or agreed for, with, or 
in relation to, any such clerk or apprentice. 

Finally, the produce of all the aforementioned duties shall be paid into his 
majesty's treasury, and there held in reserve, to be used from time to time by 
the Parliament, for the purpose of defraying the expenses necessary for the 
defense, protection, and security of the said colonies and plantations. 



II. 

STATE PAPERS PUT FORTH BY THE STAMP ACT CONGRESS, 

IN 1765. 



DECLARATION OF RIGHTS.' 

The members of this Congress, sincerely devoted, with the warmest senti- 
ments of aflFection and duty, to his Majesty's person and government, inviolably 
attached to the present happy establishment of the Protestant succession, and 
with minds deeply impressed by a sense of the present and impending misfor- 
tunes of the British colonies on this continent ; having considered, as maturely 
as time will permit, the circumstances of the said colonies, esteem it our incUs- 
pensable duty to make the following declarations of our humble opinion, respect- 
ing the most essential rights and liberties of the colonists, and of the grievances 
under which they labor, by reason of several late acts of Parliament. 

I. That his majesty's subjects in these colonies owe the same allegiance to 
the crown of Great Britain that is owing from his subjects born within ilu: 
realm, and all due subordination to that august body the Parliament of Great 
Britain. 

II. That his majesty's liege subjects in these colonics are entitled to all the 
inherent rights and liberties of his natural-born subjects within the kingdom of 
Great Britain. 

III. That it is inseparably essential to the freedom of a people, and the 
undoubted right of Englishmen, that no taxes be imposed on them but with 
their own consent, given personally, or by their representatives. 

IV. That the people of these colonies are not, and, from local circumstances, 
can not be, represented in the House of Commons in Great Britain. 

V. That the only representatives of the people of these colonies are persons 
chosen therein by themselves, and that no taxes ever have been, or can be con- 
stitutionally imposed on them, but by their respective Legislatures. 

VI. That all supplies to the crown being free gifts of the people, it is un- 
reasonable and inconsistent with the spirit of the British constitution for the 
people of Great Britain to grant to his majesty the property of the colonists. 

VII. That trial l)y jury is the inherent and invaluable right of every Brit- 
ish subject in these colonics. 

VIII. That the late act of Parliament, entitled, An act for granflng and 
ayphjhig certain stamp duties^ and other duties, in the British colonies and 



Adopted October 19, 1765. Written by John Cruger, of New York. 



550 SUPPLEMENT. 

plantations in America, &c., bj imposing taxes on the inhabitants of these 
colonies, and the said act, and several other acts, by extending the jurisdiction 
of the courts of admiralty beyond its ancient limits, have a manifest tendency 
to subvert the rights and liberties of the colonists. 

IX. That the duties imposed by several late acts of Parliament, from the 
peculiar circumstances of these colonies, -will be extremely burdensome and 
grievous ; and, from the scarcity of specie, the payment of them absolutely im- 
practicable. 

X. That as the profits of the trade of these colonies ultimately center in 
Great Britain, to pay for the manufactures -which they are obliged to take 
from thence, they eventually contribute very largely to all supplies granted 
there to the crown. 

XI. That the restrictions imposed by several late acts of Parliament on the 
trade of these colonies, will render them unable to purchase the manufactures 
of Great Britain. 

XII. That the increase, prosperity, and happiness of these colonies depend 
on the full and free enjoyment of their rights and liberties, and an intercourse 
with Great. Britain mutually affectionate and advantageous. 

XIII. That it is the right of the British subjects in these colonies to peti- 
tion the hing, or either House of Parliament. 

Lastly, That it is the indispensable duty of these colonies, to the best of 
sovereigns, to the mother country, and to themselves, to endeavor, by a loyal 
and dutiful address to his majesty, and humble applications to both Houses of 
Parliament, to procure the repsal of the act for granting and applying certain 
stamp duties, of all clauses of any other acts of Parliament, whereby the juris- 
diction of the admiralty is extended as aforesaid, and of the other late acts for 
the restriction of American commerce. 



PETITION TO THE KING.' 

The petition of the Freeholders and other Inhabitants of the colonies of Massa- 
chusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. New York, New 
Jersey, Pennsylvania, the government of the counties of New Castle, Kent, 
and Sussex, upon Delaware, and province of Maryland, 

Most luonhlij showeth, 

That the inhabitants of these colonies, unanimously devoted with the warm- 
est sentiments of duty and affection to your sacred person and government, and 
inviolably attached to the present happy establishment of the Protestant suc- 
cession in your illustrious house, and deeply sensible of your royal attention to 



' Adopted October 22, 1765. Written by Kobcrt R. Livingston, of New York. 



STATE PAPERS BY THE STAMP ACT CONGRESS. 551 

their prosperity and happiness, humbly beg leave to approach the throne, by 
representing to your majesty, that these colonies were originally planted by 
subjects of the British crown, who, animated with the spirit of liberty, encour- 
aged by your majesty's royal predecessors, and confiding in the public faith for 
the enjoyment of all the rights and liberties essential to freedom, emigrated 
from their native country to this continent, and, by their successful perseverance, 
in the midst of innumerable dangers and difficulties, together with a profusion 
of their blood and treasure, have happily added these vast and extensive domin- 
ions to the Empire of Great Britain. 

That, for the enjoyment of these rights and liberties, several governments 
were early formed in the said colonies, Avith full power of legislation, agreeably 
to the principles of the English constitution ; that, under these governments, 
these liberties, thus vested in their ancestors, and transmitted to their posterity, 
have been exercised and enjoyed, and by the inestimable blessings thereof, 
under the favor of Almighty God, the inhospitable deserts of America have 
been converted into flourishing countries ; science, humanity, and the knowledge 
of divine truths diffused through remote regions of ignorance, infidelity, and 
barbarism ; the number of British subjects wonderfully increased, and the 
wealth and power of Great Britain proportionably augmented. 

That, by means of these settlements and the unparalleled success of your 
majesty's arms, a foundation is now laid for rendering the British empire the 
mo3t extensive and powerful of any recorded in history ; our connexion with 
this empire we esteem our greatest happiness and security, and humbly conceive 
it may now be so established by your royal wisdom, as to endure to the latest 
period of time ; this, with the most humble submission to your majesty, we 
apprehend will be mo.it effectually accomplished by fixing the pillars thereof on 
liberty and justice, and securing the inherent rights and liberties of your sub- 
jects here, upon the principles of the English constitution. To this constitu- 
tion, these two principles are essential ; the rights of your faithful subjects 
freely to grant to your majesty such aids as are required for the support of your 
government over them, and other public exigencies ; and trials by their peers. 
By the one they are secured from unreasonable impositions, and by the other 
from the arbitrary decisions of the executive power. The continuation of these 
liberties to the inhabitants of America, we ardently implore, as absolutely 
necessary to unite the several parts of your wide-extended dominions, in that 
harmony so essential to the preservation and happiness of the whole. Protected 
in these liberties, the emoluments Great Britain receives from us, however great 
at present, are inconsiderable, compared with those she has the fairest prospect 
of acquiring. By this protection, she will forever secure to herself the advan- 
tages of conveying to all Europe the merchandize which America furnishes, 
and for supplying, through the same channel, whatsoever is wanted from thence. 
Here opens a boundless source of wealth and naval strength. Yet these 
immense advantages, by the abridgment of those invaluable rights and liberties, 
by which our growth has been nourished, are in danger of being forever lost.^ 
and our subordinate losiislatures in effect rendered useless by the late acts of 



552 SUPPLEMENT. 

Parliament imposing duties and taxes on these colonies, and extending the juris- 
diction of the courts of admiralty here, beyond its ancient limits ; statutes by 
Avhich your majesty's commons in Britain undertake absolutely to dispose of the 
property of their fellow-subjects in America without their consent, and for the 
enforcing whereof, they are subjected to the determination of a single judge, in 
a court unrestrained by the wise rules of the common law, the birthright of 
Englishmen, and the safeguard of their persons and properties. 

The invaluable rights of taxing ourselves and trial by our peers, of which 
we implore your majesty's protection, are not, Ave most humbly conceive, uncon- 
stitutional, but confirmed by the Great Charter of English liberties. On the 
first of these rights the honorable House of Commons found their practice 
of originating money, a right enjoyed by the kingdom of Ireland, by the clergy 
of England, until relinquished by themselves ; a right, in fine, which all other 
your majesty's English subjects, both within and without the realm, have 
hitherto enjoyed. 

With hearts, therefore, impressed with the most indelible characters of 
gratitude to your majesty, and to the memory of the kings of your illustrious 
house, whose reigns have been signally distinguished by their auspicious influ- 
ence on the prosperity of the British dominions ; and convinced by the most 
afiecting proofs of your majesty's paternal love to all your people, however dis- 
tant, and your unceasing and benevolent desires to promote their happiness ; we 
most humbly beseech your majesty that you will be graciously pleased to take 
into your royal consideration the distresses of your faithful subjects on this con- 
tinent, and to lay the same before your majesty's Parliament, and to afford them 
such relief as, in your royal wisdom, their unhappy circumstances shall be 
judged to require. 

And your petitioners will pray, &c. 



MEMORIALS TO PARLIAMENT. » 

To the right honorahle the Lords^ spiritual and temporal^ of Great 
Britain^ in Parliament assembled : 

The memorial of the Freeholders and other Inhabitants of the colonies of 
Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, New York, 
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, the government of the counties of New Castle, 
Kent, and Sussex, upon Delaware, and province of Maryland, in America, 

Most humhJy slwicetli, 

That his majesty's liege subjects in his American colonies, though they 
acknowledge a due subordination to that august body the British Parliament, 
are entitled, in the opinion of your memorialists, to all the inherent rights and 

■ Adopted October 23, 17G5. ■Written by James Otis, of Massachusetts. 



STATE PAPERS BY THE STAMP ACT CONGRESS. 553 

liberties of the natives of Great Britain, and have, ever since the settlement of 
the said colonies, exercised those rights and liberties, as far as their local cir- 
cumstances would permit. 

That your memorialists humbly conceive one of the most essential rights of 
these colonists, which thej have ever till lately uninterruptedly enjoyed, to be 
trial by jury. 

That your memorialists also humbly conceive another of tliese essential 
rights, to be the exemption from all taxes, but such as are imposed on the 
people by the several legislatures in these colonies, which rights they have also 
till of late enjoyed. But your memorialists humbly beg leave to represent to 
your lordships, that the act granting certain stamp duties in the British colonies 
m America, &c., ^lls his majesty's American subjects with the deepest concern, 
as it tends to deprive them of the two fundamental and invaluable rights and 
liberties above mentioned ; and that several other late acts of Parliament, which 
extend the jurisdiction and power of courts of admiralty in the plantations 
beyond their limits in Great Britain, thereby make an unnecessary, unhappy 
distinction, as to the modes of trial between us and our fellow-subjects there, by 
whom we never have been excelled in duty and loyalty to our sovereign. 

That from the natural connexion between Great Britain and America, the 
perpetual continuance of which your memorialists most ardently desire, they 
conceive that nothing can conduce more to the interest of both, than the colon- 
ists' free enjoyment of their rights and liberties, and an affectionate intercourse 
between Great Britain and them. But your memorialists (not waiving their 
claim to these rights, of which, with the most becoming veneration and defer- 
once to the wisdom and justice of your lordships, they apprehend, they cannot 
reasonably bo deprived), humbly represent, that, from the peculiar circum- 
stances of these colonies, the duties imposed by the aforesaid act, and several 
other late acts of Parliament, are extremely grievous and burdensome ; and the 
payment of the several duties will very soon, for want of specie, become abso- 
lutely impracticable ; and that the restrictions on trade by the said acts, will 
not only distress the colonies, but must be extremely detrimental to the trade 
and true interest of Great Britain. 

Your memorialists, therefore, impressed Avitli a just sense of the unfortunate 
circumstances of the colonies, the impending destructive conse(|uenccs which 
must necessarily ensue from the execution of these acts, and animated with the 
warmest sentiments of filial affection for their mother country, most earnestly 
and humbly entreat your lordships will be pleased to hear their counsel in sup- 
port of this memorial, and take the premises into your most serious considera- 
tion, and that your lordships will also be thereupon pleased to pursue smch 
measures for restoring the just rights and liberties of the colonies, and preserv- 
ing them forever inviolate ; for redressing their present, and preventing future 
grievances, thereby promoting the united interests of Great Britain and Amer- 
ica, as to your lordships, in your great wisdom, shall seem most conducive and 
effectual to that important end. 

And your memorialists will pray, &c. 



554 SUPPLEMENT. 



To the honorable the Knights, Citizens, and Burgesses, of Great Britain, 
in rarliament assembled : 

The petition of his Majesty's dutiful, loyal subjects, the Freeholders and other 
Inhabitants of the colonies of Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Prov- 
idence Plantations, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, the government 
of the counties of Newcastle, Kent, and Sussex, upon Delaware, and prov- 
ince of Maryland, in America, 

Most humhly slioweth^ 

That the several late acts of Parliament, imposing divers duties and taxes 
on the colonies, and laying the trade and commerce under very burdensome 
restrictions ; but, above all, the act for granting and applying certain stamp 
duties in America, have filled them with the deepest concern and surprise, and 
they humbly conceive the execution of them will be attended with consequences 
very injurious to the commercial interests of Great Britain and her colonies, 
and must terminate in the eventual ruin of the latter: Your petitioners, 
therefore, most ardently implore the attention of the honorable House to the 
united and dutiful representation of their circumstances, and to their earnest 
supplications for relief from their regulations, that have already iiivolved this 
continent in anxiety, confusion, and distress. We most sincerely recognize our 
allegiance to the crown, and acknowledge all due subordination to the Parlia- 
ment of Great Britain, and shall always retain the most grateful sense of their 
assistance and approbation ; it is from and under the English constitution wo 
derive all our civil and religious rights and liberties ; we glory in being sub- 
jects of the best of kings, having been born under the most perfect form of 
government. But it is with the most ineffable and humiliating sorrow that Vy-e 
find ourselves of late deprived of the right of granting our own property for his 
majesty's service, to which our lives and fortunes are entirely devoted, and to 
which, on his royal requisitions, Vto liavo been ready to contribute to the utmost 
of our abilities. 

We have also the misfortune to find that all the penalties and forfeitures 
mentioned in the Stamp Act, and divers late acts of trade extending to the 
plantations, are, at the election of the informers, recoverable in any court of 
admiralty in America. This, as the newly-elected court of admiralty has a 
general jurisdiction over all British America, renders his majesty's subjects in 
theie colonies liable to be carried, at an immense expense, from one end of the 
continent to the other. It always gives us great pain to see a manifest distinc- 
tion made therein between the subjects of our mother country and the colonies, 
in that the like penalties and forfeitures recoverable there only in his majesty's 
courts of record, are made cognizable here by a court of admiralty. By this 
means we seem to be, in effect, unhappily deprived of two privileges essential 
to freedom, and which all Eno-lishmen have ever considered as their best birth- 



STATE PAPERS BY THE STAMP ACT CONGRESS. 555 

rights — that of being free from all taxes but such as they have consented to in 
person, or bj their representatives, and of trial by their peers. 

Your petitioners further show, that the remote situation, and other circum- 
stances of the colonies, render it impracticable that they should be represented 
but in tlieir respective subordinate legislatures ; and they humbly conceive that 
the Parliament, adliering strictly to the spirit of the constitution, have never 
hitherto taxecJ any but those who were therein actually represented ; for this 
reason, we humbly apprehend, they never have taxed Ireland, nor any other 
of the subjects without the realm. But were it ever so clear, that the colonies 
might in law bo reasonably represented in the honorable House of Commons, 
yet we conceive that very good reasons, from inconvenience, from the principles 
of true policy, and from the spirit of the British constitution, may be adduced 
to show, that it would be for the real interest of Great Britain, as well as her 
colonies, that the late regulations should be rescinded, and the several acts of 
Parliament imposing duties and taxes on the colonies, and extending the juris- 
diction of the courts of admiralty hero, beyond their ancient limits, should be 
repealed. 

We shall not attempt a minute detail of all the reasons which the wisdom 
of the honorable House may suggest, on this occasion, but would humbly 
submit the following particulars to their consideration : 

That money is already very scarce in these colonies, and is still decreasing 
by the necessary exportation of specie from the continent for the discharging of 
our debts to British merchants ; that an immensely heavy debt is yet due from 
the colonists for British manufactures ; and that they are still heavily bur- 
dened with taxes to discharge the arrearages due for aids granted by them in 
the late war ; that the balance of trade will ever be much against the colonics, 
and in favor of Great Britain, whilst v/e consume her manufactures ; the de- 
mand of which must ever increase in proportion to the number of inhabitants 
settled here, with the means of purchasing them. We, tlierefore, humbly con- 
ceive it to be the interest of Great Britain to increase rather than diminish 
tho33 means, as the profit of all the trade of the colonics ultimately centers 
there to pay for her manuiactures, as we arc not allowed to purchase elsewhere, 
and by the consumption of whicli, at the advanced prices the British taxes 
oblige the makers and venders to set on them, wc eventually contribute very 
lartiioly to the revenues of the crown. 

That, from the nature of Amcrictm business, the multiplicity of suits and 
papers used in matters of small value, in a country where freeholds arc so mi- 
nutely divided, and property so frequently transferred, a stamp duty must be 
ever very burdensome and unequal. * 

That it is extremely improbable that the honorable House of Commons 
should at all times be thoroughly acquainted with our condition, a^id nil ficts 
requisite to a just and equal taxation of the colonies. 

It is also humbly submitted whether there be not a material distinction, in 
reason and sound policy, at least, between the necessary cxerci-e of parliament- 
ary jurisdiction in general acts, and the common hiw, and the regulations of 



556 SUPPLEMENT. 

trade and commerce, through the whole empire, and the exercise of that juris- 
diction by imposing taxes on the colonies. 

That the several subordinate provincial legislatures have been molded into 
forms as nearly resembling that of the mother country, as by his majesty's 
royal predecessors was thought convenient ; and these legislatures seem to have 
been wisely and graciously established, that the subjects in the colonies might, 
under the due administration thereof, enjoy the happy fruits of the British gov- 
ernment, which in their present circumstances they can not be so fully and 
clearly availed of any other way. 

Under these forms of government we and our ancestors have been born or 
settled, and have had our lives, liberties, and properties, protected ; the people 
here, as everywhere else, retain a great fondness of their old customs and 
usages ; and we trust that his majesty's service, and the interest of the nation, 
so far from being obstructed, have been vastly promoted by the provincial legis- 
latures. 

That wo esteem our connection with and dependence on Great Britain, as 
one of our greatest blessings, and apprehend the latter will be sufficiently secure, 
when it is considered that the inhabitants in the colonies have the most un- 
bounded aiFection for his majesty's person, family, and government, as well as 
for the mother country, and that their subordination to the Parliament is uni- 
versally acknowledged. 

We, therefore, most humbly entreat that the honorable House would be 
pleased to hear our counsel in support of this petition, and to take our dis- 
tressed and deplorable case into their serious consideration, and that the acts 
and clauses of acts so grievously restraining our trade and commerce, imposing 
duties and taxes on our property, and .extending the jurisdiction of the court of 
admiralty beyond its ancient limits, may be repealed ; or that the honorable 
House would otherwise relieve your petitioners, as in your great wisdom and 
goodness shall seem meet. 

And your petitioners shall ever pray, &c. 



ME]\IBERS OF THE STAMP ACT CONGRESS. 

The following delegates were present at the organization of the Convention : 

Massachusetts. — James Otis, Oliver Partridge, Timothy Ruggles. 

Xew York. — Robert R. Livingston, John Cruger, Philip Livingston, William Bayard, Leonard 

Lispenard. 
Xew Jersey. — Robert Ogden, Hendrick Fisher, Joseph Borden. 
Rhode Island. — Metcalf Boiler, Henry Ward. 
Pennsylvania. — John Dickenson, John Morton, George Bryan. 
Delaware. — Thomas M'Kean, Ca3sar Rodney. 

Connecticut. — Eliphalet Dyer, David Rowland, William Samuel Johnson. 
Maryland. — William Murdock, Edward Tilghman, Thomas Ringgold. 
South Carolina. — Thomas Lynch, Cluistopher Gadsden, John Rutlcdgo. 

Timothy Ruggles, of Massachusetts, was elected chairman of the Congress, 
and John Cotten, its clerk. 



III. 

STATE PAPERS PUT FORTH BY THE FIRST CONTINENTAL 
CONGRESS, IN 1774.' 



TO THE PEOPLE OF GREAT BRITAIN.' 

When a nation, led to gi-eatnes3 by the hand of liberty, and possessed of 
all the glory that heroism, munificence, and humanity can bestow, descends to 
the ungrateful task of forging chains for her friends and children, and, instead 
of giving support to freedom, turns advocate for slavery and oppression, there 
is reason to suspect she has ceased to be virtuous, or been extremely negligent 
in the appointment of her rulers. 

In almost every age, in repeated conflicts, in long and bloody wars, as well 
civil as foreign, against many and powerful nations, against the open assaults 
of enemies, and the more dangerous treachery of friends, have the inhabitants 
of your island, your great and glorious ancestors, maintained their independ- 
ence, and transmitted the rights of men and the blessings of liberty to you, 
their posterity. 

Be not surprised, therefore, that we, who are descended from the same 
common ancestors; that we, whose forefathers participated in all the rights, 
the liberties, and the Constitutions you so justly boast of, and who have care- 
fully conveyed the same fair inheritance to us, guarantied by the plighted faith 
of government and the most solemn compacts with British sovereigns, should 
refuse to surrender them to men who found their claims on no principles of 
reason, and who prosecute them with a design, that, by having our lives and 
property in their power, they may, with the greatest facility, enslave you. The 
cause of America is now the object of universal attention : it has at length be- 
come very serious. This unhappy country has not only been oppressed, but 
abused and misrepresented ; and the duty we owe ourselves and posterity, to 
your interest, and the general welfare of the British empire, leads us to address 
you on this very important subject. Know^ then, that we consider ourselves, 
and do insist, that we are and ought to be, as free as our fellow-subjects m 
Britain, and that no power on earth has a right to take our property from U9 
without our consent. That we claim all the benefits secured to the subject l)y 
the English Constitution, and particularly that inestimable one of trial by jury. 
That we hold it essential to English liberty, that no man be condenmed un- 

' Page 228. . , ^ , 

" Adopted October 21, mi'^:— Journals of Congress, vol. i., p. 36. This was written by John 
Jay, of New York. See page 379. 



558 SUPPLEMENT. 

heard, or punished for supposed offenses, without having an opportunity of 
making his defense. That we think the Legislature of Great Britain is not 
authorized, by the Constitution, to establish a religion fraught with sanguinary 
and impious tenets, or to erect an arbitrary form of government, in any quar- 
ter of the globe. These rights we, as well as you, deem sacred ; and yet, sacred 
as they are, they have, with many others, been repeatedly and flagrantly violated. 

Are not the proprietors of the soil of Great Britain lords of their own prop- 
erty ? can it be taken from them without their consent ? will they yield it to 
the arbitrary disposal of any man, or number of men whatever ? You know 
they will not. Why, then, are the proprietors of the soil in Aiuerica less lords 
of their property than you are of yours ? or why should they submit it to the 
disposal of your Parliament, or of any other parliament or council in the world 
not of their election ? Can the intervention of the sea that divides us cause dis- 
parity in rights ? or can any reason be given why English subjects who live 
three thousand miles from the royal palace, should enjoy less liberty than those 
who are three hundred miles distant from it? 

Reason looks with indignation on such distinctions, and freemen can never 
perceive their propriety. And yet, hoAvever chimerical and unjust such dis- 
criminations are, the Parliament assert they have a right to bind us in all cases, 
without exc3ption, whether we consent or not ; that they may take and use our 
property when and in what manner they please ; that we are pensioners on their 
bounty for all that we possess, and can hold it no longer than they vouchsafe 
to permit. Such declarations' we consider as heresies in English politics ; and 
which can no more operate to deprive us of our propertj'-, than the interdicts of 
the Pope can divest kings of scepters which the laws of the land and the voice 
of the people have placed in their hands. 

At the conclusion of the late war' — a war rendered glorious by the abilities 
and integrity of a minister to whose efforts the British empire owes its safety 
and its fame ; at the conclusion of this war, which was succeeded by an inglorious 
peace, formed under the auspices of a minister of principles and of a family un- 
friendly to the Protestant cause, and inimical to liberty : we say, at this 
period, and under the influence of that man, a plan for inslaving your fellow- 
subjects in America was concerted, and has ever since been pertinaciously car- 
rying into execution. 

Prior to this era you were content with drawing from us the wealth pro- 
duced by our commerce. You restrained our trade in every way that would 
conduce to your emoluments. You exercised unbounded sovereignty over the 
sea. You named the ports and nations to which alone our merchandise should 
be carried, and with whom alone we should trade ; and though some of these 
restrictions were grievous, we nevertheless did not complain ; we looked up to 
you as to our parent State, to which we were bound by the strongest ties, and 
were happy in being instrumental to your prosperity and your grandeur. 

We call upon you yourselves to witness our loyalty and attachment to the 



The French and Indian War. See page 179. 



STATE PAPERS BY THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS. 559 

common interest of the whole empire : did we not, in the last war, add all the 
strength of this vast continent to the force which repelled our common enemy ? 
did we not leave our native shores, and meet disease and death to promote the 
success of the British arms in foreign climates ? did you not thank us for our 
zoal, and even reimburse us large sums of money, which you professed we had 
advanced beyond our proportion, and far beyond our abilities ? You did. 

To what causes, then, are we to attribute the sudden change of treatment 
and that system of slavery which was prepared for us at the restoration of 
peace ? 

Before we had recovered from the distresses which ever attend war, an 
attempt was made to drain this country of all its money by the oppressive 
Stamp Act. Paint, glass, and other commodities, which you would not permit 
us to purchase of other nations, were taxed ; nay, although no wine is made in 
any country subject to the British state, you prohibited our procuring it of 
foreigners without paying a tax, imposed by your Parliament, on all wc 
imported. These and many other impositions were laid upon us most unjustly 
and unconstitutionally, for the express purpose of raising a revenue. In order 
to silence complaint, it was, indeed, provided that this revenue should be 
expended in America, for its protection and defense. These exactions, however, 
can receive no justification from a pretended necessity of protecting and defend- 
ing us : they are lavishly squandered on court favorites and ministerial depend- 
ants, generally avowed enemies to America, and employing themselves by 
partial representations to traduce and embroil the colonics. For the necessary 
support of government here we ever were and ever shall be ready to provide ; 
and whenever the exigences of the State may require it, we shall, as we have 
heretofore done, cheerfully contribute our full proportion of men and money. 
To enforce this unconstitutional and unjust scheme of taxation, every fence that 
the Avisdom of our British ancestors had carefully erected against arbitrary 
power has been violently thrown down in America, and the inestimable right of 
trial by jury taken away in cases that touch both life and property. It was 
ordained that, whenever offenses should be committed in the colonies against 
particular acts, imposing various duties and restrictions upon trade, the pros- 
ecutor might bring his action for penidties in the courts of admiralty ; by which 
means the subject lost the advantage of being tried by an honest uninfluenced 
jury of the vicinage, and Avas subjected to the sad necessity of being judged by 
a single man, a creature of the crown, and according to the course of a laAV 
which exempts the prosecutor from the trouble of proving his accusation, and 
obliges the defendant either to evince his innocence or suffer. To give this new 
judiciary the greater importance, and as if Avith design to protect false accusers, 
it is further provided, that the judge's certificate of there having been probable 
causes of seizure and prosecution shall protect the prosecutors from actions at 
common laAv for recovery of damages. 

By the course of our laws, offenses committed in such of the British 
dominions in which courts are established and justice duly and regularly admin- 
istered, shall be there tried by a jury of the vicinage. There the offenders and 



560 SUPPLEMENT. 

the witnesses are known, and the degree of credibility to be given to their tes- 
timony can be ascertained. 

In all these colonies, justice is regularly and impartially administered, and 
yet, by the construction of some, and the direction of other acts of Parliament, 
offenders are to be taken by force, together with all such persons as may be 
pointed out as witnesses, and carried to England, there to be tried in a distant 
land by a jury of strangers, and subject to all the disadvantages that result 
from want of friends, want of witnesses, and want of money. 

When the design of raising a revenue, from the duties imposed on the 
importation of tea in America, had in a great measure been rendered abortive, 
by our ceasing to import that commodity, a scheme was concerted by the min- 
istry with the East India Company, and an act passed enabling and encouraging 
them to transport and vend it in the colonies. Aware of the danger of giving 
success to this insidious maneuver, and of permitting a precedent of taxation 
thus to be established among ns, various methods were adopted to elude the 
stroke. The people of Boston, then ruled by a governor whom, as well as his 
predecessor. Sir Francis Bernard, all America considers as her enemy, were 
exceedingly embarrassed. The ships which had arrived with the tea were, by 
his management, prevented from returning. The duties Avould have been paid, 
the cargoes landed and exposed to sale ; a governor's influence would have pro- 
cured and protected many purchasers. While the town was suspended by 
deliberations on this important subject, the tea was destroyed. Even supposing 
a- trespass was thereby committed, and the proprietors of the tea entitled to 
damages, the courts of law were open, and judges, appointed by the crown, 
presided in them. The East India Company, however, did not think proper to 
commence any suits, nor did they even demand satisfaction, either from indi- 
viduals, or from the community in general. The ministry, it seems, officially 
made the case their own, and the great council of the nation descended to inter- 
meddle with a dispute about private property. Divers papers, letters, and 
other unauthentic ated ex 'parte evidence, were laid before them ; neither the 
persons who destroyed the tea, nor the people of Boston, were called upon to 
answer the complaint. The ministry, incensed by being disappointed in a 
favorite scheme, were determined to recur from the little arts of finesse to open 
force and unmanly violence. The port of Boston was blocked up by a fleet, 
and an army placed in the town. Their trade was to be suspended, and 
thousands reduced to the necessity of gaining subsistence from charity, till they 
should submit to pass under the yoke, and consent to become slaves, by confess- 
ing the omnipotence of Parliament, and acquiescing in whatever disposition they 
might think proper to make of their lives and property. 

Let justice and humanity cease to be the boast of your nation ! Consult 
your history, examine your records of former transactions : nay, turn to the 
annals of the many arbitrary states and king<Ioms that surround you, and show 
us a single instance of men being condemned to suffer for imputed crimes, 
unheard, unquestioned, and without even the specious formality of a trial ; and 
that, too, by laws made expressly for the purpose, and which had no existence 



STATE PAPERS BY THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS. 561 

at the time of the fact committed. If it be difficult to reconcile these proceed- 
ings to the genius and temper of your laws and Constitution, the task will 
become more arduous when we call upon our ministerial enemies to justify, not 
only condemning men untried and by hearsay, but involving the innocent in 
one common punishment with the guilty, and for the acts of thirty or forty, to 
bring poverty, distress, and calamity on thirty thousand souls, and those not 
your enemies, but your friends, brethren, and fellow-subjects. 

It would be some consolation to us if the catalogue of American oppressions 
ended here. It gives us pain to be reduced to the necessity of reminding you 
that, under the confidence reposed in the faith of government, pledged in a 
royal charter from the British sovereign, the forefathers of the present inhabit- 
ants of Massachusetts Bay left their former habitations, and established that 
great, flourishing, and loyal colony. Without incurring or being charged with 
a forfeiture of their right, without being heard, without being tried, and without 
justice, by an act of Parliament their charter is destroyed, their liberties 
violated, their Constitution and form of government changed ; and all this upon 
no better pretense than because in one of their towns a trespass was committed 
upon some merchandise said to belong to one of the companies, and because the 
ministry w ere of opinion that such high political regulations were necessary to 
due subordination and obedience to their mandates. 

Nor are these the only capital grievances under which we labor : we might 
tell of dissolute, weak, and wicked governors having been set over us; of 
Legislatures being suspended for asserting the rights of British subjects ; of 
needy and ignorant dependants on great men advanced to the seats of justice, 
and to other places of trust and importance ; of hard restrictions on commerce, 
and a great variety of lesser evils, the recollection of which is almost lost under 
the pressure and weight of greater and more poignant calamities. 

But mark the progression of the ministerial plan for inslaving us. 

Well aware that such hardy attempts to take our property from us, to 
deprive us of that valuable right of trial by jury, to seize our persons and carry 
us for trial to Great Britain, to blockade our ports, to destroy our charters, 
and change our form of government, would occasion, and had already occasioned, 
great discontent in the colonies, which might produce opposition to these 
measures, an act was passed to protect, indemnify, and screen fi'om punishment, 
such as might be guilty even of murder, in endeavoring to carry their oppres- 
sive edicts into execution ; and by another act the dominion of Canada is to be so 
extended, modeled, and governed, as that, by being disunited from us, detached 
from our interests, by civil as well as religious prejudices, that by their numbers 
daily swelling with Catholic emigrants from Europe, and by their devotion 
to administration, so friendly to their religion, they might become formidable 
to us, and, on occasion, be fit instruments in the hands of power to reduce 
the ancient, free Protestant colonies to the same state of slavery with themselves. 

This was evidently the object of the act ; and in this view, being extremely 
dangerous to our liberty and quiet, we can not forbear complaining of it as 
hostile to British America. Superadded to these considerations, we can not 

36 



562 SUPPLEMENT. 

lielp deploring the unhappy condition to which it has reduced the many English 
settlers who, encouraged by the royal proclamation, promising the enjoyment 
of all their rights, have purchased estates in that country. They are now the 
subjects of an arbitrary government, deprived of trial by jury, and, when 
imprisoned, can not claim the benefit of the habeas corpus act, that great bul- 
wark and palladium of English liberty ; nor can we suppress our astonishment 
that a British Parliament should ever consent to establish in that country a 
religion that has deluged your island in blood, and dispersed impiety, bigotry, 
persecution, murder, and rebellion, through every part of the world. 

This being a true state of facts, let us beseech you to consider to what end 
they lead. 

Admit the ministry, by the powers of Britain and the aid of our Roman 
Catholic neighbors, should be able to carry the point of taxation, and reduce us 
to a state of perfect humiliation and slavery. Such an enterprise would doubt- 
less make some addition to your national debt, which already presses down your 
liberty, and fills you with pensioners and placemen. We presume also that 
your commerce will be somewhat diminished. However, suppose you should 
prove victorious, in what condition will you then be? What advantages, or 
what laurels will you reap from such a conquest? 

May not a ministry with the same armies inslave you ? It may be said, 
you will cease to pay them ; but remember the taxes from America, the wealth, 
and, we may add, the men, and particularly the Roman Catholics of this vast 
continent, will then be in the power of your enemies ; nor will you have any 
reason to expect that, after making slaves of us, many among us should refuse 
to assist in reducing you to the same abject state. 

Bo not treat this as chimerical. Know that in less than half a century the 
quit-rents reserved to the crown, from the numberless grants of this vast con- 
tinent, will pour large streams of wealth into the royal cofiers ; and if to this 
be added the power of taxing America at pleasure, the crown will be rendered 
independent of you for supplies, and will possess more treasures than may be 
necessary to purchase the remains of liberty in your island. In a word, take 
care that you do not fall into the pit that is preparing for us. 

We believe there is yet much virtue, much justice, and much public spirit 
in the English nation. To that justice, we now appeal. You have been told 
that we are seditious, impatient of government, and desirous of independency. 
Be assured that these are not facts, but calumnies. Permit us to be as free as 
yourselves, and we shall ever esteem a union with you to be our greatest glory 
and our greatest happiness ; we shall ever be ready to contribute all in our 
power to the welfare of the empire ; we shall consider your enemies as our ene- 
mies, and your interest as our own. But if you are determined that your min- 
isters shall wantonly sport with the rights of mankind — if neither the voice of 
justice, the dictates of the law, the principles of the Constitution, nor the sug- 
gestions of humanity, can restrain your hands from shedding human blood in 
such an impious cause, we must tell you that we will never submit to be hewers 
of wood or drawers of water for any ministry or nation n the world. 



STATE PAPERS BY TUE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS. 553 

Place U3 in the same situation that we -were at the close of the last war and 
our former harmony will be restored. 

But, lest the same supineness, and the same inattention to our common 
interest, which you have for several years shown, should continue, we think it 
prudent to anticipate the conse(i[uences. 

By the destruction of the trade of Boston, the ministry have endeavored to 
induce submission to their measures. The like fate may befall us all. We 
will endeavor, therefore, to live without trade, and recur, for subsistence to the 
fertility and bounty of our native soil, which will afford us all the necessaries 
and some of the conveniences, of life. We have suspended our importation from 
Great Britain and Ireland ; and in less than a year's time, unless our griev- 
ances should.be redressed, we shall discontinue our exports to those kingdoms 
and to the West Indies. 

It is with the utmost regret, however, that we find ourselves compelled, by 
the overruling principles of self-preservation, to adopt measures detrimental in 
their consequences to numbers of our fellow-subjects in Great Britain and Ire- 
land. But we hope that the magnanimity and justice of the British nation v.ill 
furnish a Parliament of such wisdom, independence, and public spirit, as may 
save the violated rights of the whole empire from the devices of wicked minis- 
ters and evil counselors, whether in or out of office ; and thereby restore that 
harmony, friendship and fraternal affection, between all the inhabitants of his 
majesty's kingdoms and territories, so ardently wished for by every true and 
honest American. 

The Congress then resumed the consideration of the memorial to the inhab- 
itants of the British colonies, and the same, being debated by paragraphs, and 
amended, was approved, and is as follows : 



TO THE INHABITANTS OF THE SEVERAL ANGLO-AMERICAN 

COLONIES.' 

We, the delegates appointed by the good people of these colonies to meet at 
Philadelphia in September last, for the purposes mentioned by our respective 
constituents, have, in pursuance of the trust reposed in us, assembled, and taken 
into our most serious consideration, the important matters recommended to the 
Congress. Our resolutions thereupon will be herewith communicated to you. 
But as the situation of public affairs grows daily more and more alarming ; and 
as it may be more satisfactory to you to be informed by us in a collective body, 
than in any other manner, of those sentiments that have been approved, upon a 
full and free discussion, by the representatives of so great a part of America, 
we esteem ourselves oblig-ed to add this address to these resolutions. 

In every case of opposition by a people to their rulers, or of one State to 
another, duty to Almighty God, the Creator of all, requires that a true and 



' Adopted October 21, 111 -L— Journals of Congress, voL i., p. 43. TLis was^mtten by "Wmiam 
LLvingston, afterward Governor of New Jersej. 



)64 



SUPPLEMEN'T. 



impartial judgment be formed of the measures leading to such opposition, and of 
the causes by which it has been provoked or can in any degree be justified, that, 
neither affection on one hand, nor resentment on the other, being permitted to 
give a wrong bias to reason, it may be enabled to take a dispassionate view of 
all circumstances, and to settle the public conduct on the solid foundations of 
wisdom and justice. 

From counsels thus tempered arise the surest hopes of the divine favor, the 
firmest encouragement of the parties engaged, and the strongest recommenda- 
tion of their cause to the rest of mankind. 

With minds deeply impressed by a sense of these truths, we have diligently, 
deliberately, and calmly inquired into and considered those exertions, both of 
the legislative and executive power of Great Britain, which have excited so much 
imeasiness in America, and have with equal fidelity and attention considered 
the conduct of the colonies. Upon the whole, we find ourselves reduced to the 
disagreeable alternative of being silent and betraying the innocent, or of speak- 
ing out and censuring those we wish to revere. In making our choice of these 
distressing difiiculties, we prefer the course dictated by honesty and a regard 
for the welfare of our country. 

Soon after the conclusion of the late war, there commenced a memorable 
change in the treatment of these colonies. By a statute made in the fourth 
year of the present reign, a time of profound peace, alleging "the expediency 
of new provisions and regulations for extending the commerce between Great 
Britain and his majesty's dominions in America, and the necessity of raising a 
revenue in the said dominions, for defraying the expenses of defending, protect- 
ing, and securing the same," the Commons of Great Britain undertook to give 
and grant to his majesty many rates and duties to be paid in these colonies. 
To enforce the observance of this act, it prescribes a great number of severe 
penalties and forfeitures ; and in two sections makes a remarkable distinction 
between the subjects in Great Britain and those in America. By the one, the 
penalties and forfeitures incurred there are to be recovered in any of the king's 
courts of record at Westminster, or in the court of exchequer in Scotland ; and 
by the other, the penalties and forfeitures incurred here are to be recovered in 
any court of record, or in any court of admiralty or vice-admiralty, at the 
election of the informer or prosecutor. 

The iniiabitants of these colonics, confiding in the justice of Great Britain, 
were scarcely allowed sufficient time to receive and consider this act, before 
another, well known by the name of the Stamp Act, and passed in the fifth 
year of this reign, engrossed their whole attention. By this statute, the Brit- 
ish Parliament exercised, in the most explicit manner, a power of taxing us, 
and extending the jurisdiction of courts of admiralty and vice-admiralty in the 
colonies to matters arising within the body of a county, and directed the numer- 
ous penalties and forfeitures thereby inflicted to be recovered in the said courts. 

In the same year a tax was imposed upon us by an act establishing several 
new fees in the customs. In the next year the Stamp Act was repealed, not 
because it was founded in an erroneous principle, but, a,s the repealing act re- 



STATE PAPERS BY THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS. 



565 



cites, because " the continuance thereof -would he attended Avith many incon- 
veniences, and might be productive of consequences greatly detrimental to the 
commercial interest of Great Britain." 

In the same year, and by a subsequent act, it was declared, '• that his maj- 
esty in Parliament, of right, had power to bind the people of these colonies b,- 
statutes in all cases whatsoever." In the same year another act was passed for 
imposing rates and duties payable in these colonics. In this Statute, the Com- 
mons, avoiding the terms of giving and granting, "humbly besought his maj- 
esty that it might be enacted," etc. But from a declaration in the preaml)le, 
that the rates and duties "were in lieu of" several otliers granted by the 
statute first before mentioned for raising a revenue, and from some other ex- 
pressions, it appears that these duties were intended for tliat purpose. 

In the next year (1767) an act was made " to enable his majesty to put the 
customs and other duties in America under the management of commissioners." 
etc. ; and the king thereupon erected the present expensive board of commis- 
sioners, for the express purpose of carrying into execution the several acts relat- 
ing to the revenue and trade in America. 

After the repeal of the Stamp Act, having again resigned ourselves to our 
ancient unsus|)icious affections for the parent State, and anxious to avoid any 
controversy with her, in hopes of a favorable alteration in sentiments and meas- 
ures toward us, we did not press our objections against the above-mentioned 
statutes made subsequent to that repeal. 

Administration, attributing to trifling causes a conduct that really pro- 
ceeded from generous motives, were encouraged in the same year (1707) to 
make a bolder experiment on the patience of America. 

By a statute commonly called the Glass, Paper, and Tea Act, made fifteen 
months after the repeal of the Stamp Act, the Commons of Great Britain re- 
sumed their former language, and again undertook to " give and grant rates and 
duties to be paid in these colonies," for the express purpose of "raising a rev- 
enue to defray the charges of the administration of justice, the support of civil 
government, and defending the king's dominions," on this continent. The pen- 
alties and forfeitures incurred unter this statute are to be recovered in the same 
manner with those mentioned in the foreffoinjj acts. 

To this statute, so naturally tending to disturb the tranquillity then uni- 
versal throughout the colonies. Parliament, in the same session, added another 
no less extraordinary. 

Ever since the making the present peace a standing army has been kept in 
these colonies. From respect for the mother country, the innovation was not 
only tolerated, but the provincial Legislatures generally made provision for 
supplying the troops. 

The Assembly of the province of New York having passed an act of this 
kind, but differinir in some articles from the directions of the act of Parliament 
made in the fifth year of this reign, the House of Representatives in that col- 
ony was prohibited, by a statute made in the last session mentioned, from 
making any bill, order, resolution, or vote, except for adjourning or choosing a 



506 



SUPPLEMENT. 



speaker, until i^rovision shall be made by the said Assembly for furnishing the 
troops within that province not only with all such necessaries as were required 
by the statute which they were charged with disobeying, but also with those 
required by two other subsequent statutes, which were declared to be in force 
until the twenty-fourth day of March, 1769. 

These statutes of the year 1767 revived the apprehensions and discontents 
that had entirely subsided on the repeal of the Stamp Act ; and, amid the just 
fears and jealousies thereby occasioned, a statute was made in the next year 
(1768) to establish courts of admiralty and vice-admiralty on a new model, 
expressly for tho end of more effectually recovering of the penalties and for- 
feitures inflicted by acts of Parliament framed for the purpose of raising a rev- 
enue in America, etc. The immediate tendency of these statutes is to subvert 
the right of having a share in legislation, by rendering assemblies useless ; the 
ri^ht of property, by taking the money of the colonists without their consent ; 
the right of trial by jury, by substituting in their places trials in admiralty and 
vice-admiralty courts, where single judges preside, holding their commissions 
during pleasure, and unduly to influence the courts of common law by render- 
ing the judges thereof totally dependent on the crown for their salaries. 

These statutes, not to mention many others exceedingly exceptionable, com- 
pared one with another, will be found not only to form a regular system in 
which every part has great force, but also a pertinacious adherence to that sys- 
tem for subjugating these colonies, that are not, and from local circumstances 
can not be, represented in the House of Commons, to the uncontrollable and 
unlimited power of Parliament, in violation of their undoubted rights and lib- 
erties, in contempt of their humble and repeated supplications. 

This conduct must appear equally astonishing and unjustifiable, when it is 
considered how unprovoked it has been by any behavior of these colonies. 
From their first settlement, their bitterest enemies never fixed on any of them 
any charge of disloyalty to their sovereign or disaffection to their mother coun- 
try. In the wars she has carried on they have exerted themselves, whenever 
required, in giving her assistance, and have rendered her services which she 
has publicly acknowledged to be extremely important. Their fidelity, duty, 
and usefulness during the last war were frequently and affectionately confessed 
by his late majesty and the present king. 

The reproaches of those who are most unfriendly to the freedom of Amer- 
ica are principally leveled against the province of Massachusetts Bay, but with 
what little reason will appear by the following declarations of a person, the 
truth of whose evidence in their favor will not be questioned. Governor Ber- 
nard thus addresses the two Houses of Assembly in his speech on the 24th of 
April, 1762: "The unanimity and dispatch with which you have complied 
with the repuisitions of his majesty require my particular acknowledgment, and 
it gives me additional pleasure to observe that you have therein acted under no 
other influence than a due sense of your duty, both as members of a general 
empire and as the body of a particular province." 

In another speech, on the 27th of May in the same year, he says, '-What- 



STATE PAPERS BY THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS. 5^7 

ever shall bo the event of the war, it must be no small satisfaction to us that 
tliis province has contributed its full share to the support of it. Every thin<T 
lliat hath been required of it hath been complied with ; and the execution of the 
powers committed to mo for raising the provincial troops liath been as full and 
complete as the grant of them. Never before were regiments so easily levied, 
so well composed, and so early in the field, as they have been this year : the 
common people seem to bo animated with the spirit of the General Court and 
to vie with them in their readiness to serve the kin"-."' 

o 

Such was the conduct of the people of Massachusetts Bay during tlio last 
war. As to their behavior before that period, it ought not to have been forgot 
in Great Britain that not only on every occasion they had constantly and cheer- 
fully complied with the frequent royal requisitions, but that chiefly by their 
vigorous efforts Nova Scotia was subdued in 1710, and Louisbourg in 1745. 

Foreign quarrels being ended, and the domestic disturbances that quickly 
succeeded on account of the Stamp Act being quieted by its repeal, the Assem- 
bly of INIassachusetts Bay transmitted an humljle address of thanks to the king 
and divers noblemen, and soon after passed a bill for granting compensation to 
the sufferers in the disorders occasioned by that act. 

These circumstances, and the following extracts from Governor Bernard's 
letters, in 1768, to the Earl of Shelburne, Secretary of State, clearly show 
with what grateful tenderness they strove to bury in oblivion the unhappy oc- 
casion of the late discords, and with what respectful deference they endeavored 
to escape other subjects of future controversy. "The House,'.' says the gov- 
ernor, " from the time of opening the session to this day, has shown a disposi- 
tion to avoid all dispute with me, every thing having passed with as much good 
humor as I could desire, except only their continuing to act in addressing the 
king, remonstrating to the Secretary of State, and employing a separate agent. 
It is the importance of this innovation, without any willfulness of my own, 
which induces me to make this remonstrance at a time when I have a fair pros- 
pect of having in all other business nothing but good to say of the proceedings 
of the House. 

" They have acted in all things, even in their remonstrance, with temper and 
moderation; they have avoided some subjects of dispute, and have laid a 
foundation for removing some causes of former altercation. 

" I shall make such a prudent and proper use of this letter as I hope will 
perfectly restore the peace and tranquillity of this province, for which purpose 
considerable steps have been made by the House of Representatives. ' 

The vindication of the province of Massachuetts Bay contained in these 
letters will have greater force if it be considered that they were written several 
months after the fresh alarm given to the colonies by the statutes passed in tlie 
preceding year. 

In this place it seems proper to take notice of the insinuation of one of those 
statutes, that the interference of Parliament was necessary to provide for '-de- 
fraying the charges of the administration of justice, the support of civil govern- 
ment, and defending the king's dominions in America." 



568 SUPPLEMENT. 

As to the first two articles of expense, every colony had made such pro- 
vision as by their respective Assemblies, the best judges on such occasions, Avas 
thought expedient and suitable to their several circumstances ; respecting the 
last, it is Avell known to all men the least acquainted with American affjiirs, 
that the colonies were established, and generally defended themselves, without 
the least assistance from Great Britain ; and that, at the time of her taxing 
them by the statutes before-mentioned, most of them w^ere laboring under very 
heavy debts contracted in the last war. So far were they from sparing their 
money when their sovereign constitutionally asked their aids, that, during the 
course of that war. Parliament repeatedly made them compensations for the 
expenses of those strenuous efforts which, consulting their zeal rather than their 
strength, they had cheerfully incurred. 

Severe as the acts of Parliament before-mentioned are, yet the conduct of 
administration hath been equally injurious and irritating to this devoted coun- 
try- 

Under pretense of governing them, so many new institutions, uniformly 
rigid and dangerous, have been introduced, as could only be expected from in- 
censed masters for collecting the tribute, or, rather the plunder of conquered 
provinces. 

By an order of the king, the authority of the commander-in-chief, and 
under him of the brigadier-generals, in time of peace, is rendered supreme in 
all civil governments in America, and thus an uncontrollable military power is 
vested in officers not known to the Constitutions of those colonies. 

A large body of troops, and a considerable armament of ships of war, have 
been sent to assist in taking their money without their consent. 

Expensive and oppressive officers have been multiplied, and the acts of cor- 
ruption industriously practiced to divide and destroy. 

The judges of the admiralty and vice-admiralty courts are empowered to 
receive their salaries and fees from the effects to be condemned by themselves. 

The commissioners of the customs are empowered to break open and enter 
houses without the authority of any civil magistrate, founded on legal informa- 
tion. 

Judges of courts of common law have been made entirely dependent on the 
crown for their commissions and salaries. A court has been established at 
Rhode Island for the purpose of taking colonists to England to be tried. Hum- 
ble and reasonable petitions from the representatives of the people have been 
frequently treated with contempt, and assemblies have been repeatedly and arbi- 
trarily dissolved. 

From some few instances it will sufficiently appear on what pretenses of 
justice those dissolutions have been founded. 

The tranquillity of the colonies having been again disturbed, as has been 
mentioned, by the statutes of the year 1767, the Earl of Hillsborough, Secre- 
tary of State, in a letter to Governor Bernard, dated April 22d, 1768, censures 
the "presumption" of the House of Representatives for "resolving upon a 
measure of so inflammatory a nature as that of writing to the other colonics on 



STATE PAPERS BY THE COiN TIN E.\ T AL CONGRESS. 559 

the subject of their intended representations against some late acts of Parlia- 
ment," then declares that " his majesty considers this step as evidently tendin<T 
to create unwarrantable combinations, to excite an unjustifiable opposition to 
the constitutional authority of Parliament," and afterward adds "it is the 
king's pleasure that, as soon as the General Court is a^ain assembled at the 
time prescribed by the charter, you should require of the House of Represent- 
atives, in his majesty's name, to rescind the resolutions which gave birth to the 
circular letter of the speaker, and to declare their disapprobation of and dissent 
to that rash and hasty proceeding." 

"If the new Assembly should refuse to comply with his majesty's reason- 
able expectation, it is the king's pleasure that you should immediately dissolve 
them." 

This letter being laid before the House, and the resolution not being re- 
scinded, according to order the Assembly was dissolved. A letter of a similar 
nature was sent to other governors, to procure resolutions approving the con- 
duct of the representatives of Massachusetts Bay to be rescinded also ; and the 
Houses of Representatives in other colonies refusing to comply, assemblies were 
dissolved. 

These mandates spoke a language to which the ears of English subjects had 
for several generations been strangers. The nature of assemblies implies a power 
and right of deliberation ; but these commands, proscribing the exercise of 
judgment on the propriety of the requisitions made, left to the assemblies only 
the election between dictated submission and threatened punishment : a punish- 
ment, too, founded on no other act than such as is deemed innocent even in 
slaves, of agreeing in petitions for redress of grievances that equally affect 
all. 

The hostile and unjustifiable invasion of the town of Boston soon followed 
these events in the same year, though that town, the province in which it is sit- 
uated, and all the colonies, from abhorrence of a contest with their parent State, 
permitted the execution even of those statutes against which they were so unan- 
imously complaining, remonstrating, and supplicating. 

Administration, determined to subdue a spirit of freedom which English 
ministers should have rejoiced to cherish, entered into a monopolizing combina- 
tion with the East India Company to send to this continent vast quantities of 
tea, an article on which a duty was laid by a statute that in a particular man- 
ner attacked the liberties of America, and which, therefore, the inhabitants of 
these colonies had resolved not to import. The cargo sent to South Carolina 
was stored and not allowed to be sold. Those sent to Philadelphia and New 
York were not permitted to be landed. That sent to Boston was destroyed, 
because Governor Hutchinson would not suffer it to be returned. 

On the intelligence of these transactions arriving in Great Britain, the 
public-spirited town last mentioned was singled out for destruction, and it was 
determined the province it belongs to should partake of its fate. In the last 
session of Parliament, therefore, were passed the acts for shutting up the port 
of Boston, indemnifying the murderers of the inhabitants of Massachusetts Bay, 



570 SUTFLKMENT. 

and changing their chartered constitution of government. To enforce these 
acts, that province is again invaded by a fleet and army. 

To mention these outrageous proceedings is sufficient to explain them. For 
though it is pretended the province of Massachusetts Bay has been particularly 
disrespectful to Great Britain, yet, in truth, the behavior of the people in other 
colonies has been an ecjual "opposition to the power assumed by Parliament." 
No step, however, has been taken against any of the rest. This artful conduct 
conceals several designs. It is expected that the province of Massachusetts 
Bay will be irritated into some violent action that may displease the rest of the 
continent, or that may induce the people of Great Britain to approve the medi- 
tated vengeance of an imprudent and exasperated ministry. If the unexampled 
pacific temper of that province shall disappoint this part of the plan, it is hoped 
the other colonies will be so far intimidated as to desert their brethren suffering 
in a common cause, and that, thus disunited, all may be subdued. 

To promote these designs another measure has been pursued. In the ses- 
sion of Parliament last mentioned, an act was passed for changing the govern- 
ment of Quebec, by which act the Roman Catholic religion, instead of being 
tolerated, as stipulated by the treaty of peace, is established, and the people 
there are deprived of a right to an assembly, trials by jury, and the English 
laws in civil cases are abolished, and instead thereof the French laws are estab- 
lished, in direct violation of his majesty's promise by his royal proclamation, 
under the faith of which many English subjects settled in that province : and 
the limits of that province are extended so as to comprehend those vast regions 
that lie adjoining to the northerly and westerly boundaries of these colonies. 

The authors of this arbitrary enactment flatter themselves that the inhabit- 
ants, deprived of liberty, and artfully provoked against those of another religion, 
will be proper instruments for assisting in the oppression of such as differ from 
them in modes of government and in faith. 

From the detail of liicts herein-before recited, as well as from authentic 
intelligence received, it is clear, beyond a doubt, that a resolution is formed and 
now carrying into execution to extinguish the freedom of these colonies, by 
subjecting them to a despotic government. 

At this unhappy period we have been authorized and directed to meet and 
consult together for the welfare of our common country. We accepted the 
important trust with diffidence, but have endeavored to discharge it with 
integrity. Though the state of these colonies would certainly justify other 
measures than we have advised, yet weighty reasons determ.ined us to prefer 
those which we have adopted. In the first place, it appeared to us a conduct 
becoming the character these colonies have ever sustained, to perform, even in 
the midst of tlie unnatural distresses and immed'ate dangers which sniround 
them, every act of loyalty, and therefore we were induced once more to offer to 
his mniesty the petitions of his faithful and oppressed subjects in America. 
Secondly, regarding with the tender affection which we knew to be so universal 
amons: our conntrvrnpu tlie people of the king:dom from which we derive our 
origin, we could not forbear to regulate our steps by an expectation of receiving 



STATE PAPERS BY THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS. 571 

full conviction that the colonists are equally dear to them. Between these 
provinces and that body subsists the social band, which we ardently wish may 
never be dissolved, and which can not be dissolved, until their minds shall 
become indisputably hostile, or their inattention shall permit those who are thus 
hostile to persist in prosecuting, with the powers of the realm, tlio destructive 
measures already opei-atiug against the colonists, and in either case shall reduce 
the latter to such a situation that they shall be compelled to renounce every 
regard but that of self-preservation. Notwithstanding tlie violence with wliieh 
affairs have been impelled, they have not yet reached that fatal point. We do 
not incline to accelerate their motion, already alarmingly rapid ; we have chosen 
a method of opposition that does not preclude a hearty reconciliation with our 
fellow-citizens on the other side of the Atlantic. We deeply deplore the urgent 
necessity that presses us to an immediate interruption of commerce that may 
prove injurious to them. We trust they will acquit us of any unkind inten- 
tions toward them, by reflecting that wo are driven by the hands of violence 
into unexperienced and unexpected public convulsions, and that we are contend- 
ing for freedom, so often contended for by our ancestors. 

The people of England will soon have an opportunity of declaring their sen- 
timents concerning our cause. In their piety, generosity, and good sense, we 
repose high confidence, and can not, upon a review of past events, be persuaded 
that they, the defenders of true religion, and the asserters of the rights of man- 
kind, will take part against their affectionate Protestant brethren in the colonies, 
in fiA'or of our open and their own secret enemies, whose intrigues, for several 
years past, have been wholly exercised in sapping the foundations of civil and 
religious liberty. 

Another reason that engaged us to prefer the commercial mode of operation 
arose from an assurance that the mode will prove efficacious if it be persisted in 
Avith fidelity and virtue, and that your conduct will be influenced by these 
laudable principles, can not be doubted. Your own salvation and that of your 
posterity, now depends upon yourselves. You have already shown that you 
entertain a proper sense of the blessings you are striving to retain. Against 
the temporary inconveniences you may suffer from a stoppage of trade, you will 
weigh in the opposite balance the endless miseries you and your descendants 
must endure from an established arbitrary poAver. You will not forget the honor 
of your country, that you must, from your behavior, take its title, in tlie esti- 
mation of the world, to glory or to shame : and you will. Avith the deepest 
attention, reflect that if the peaceable mode of opposition recommended by us be 
broken and rendered ineffectual, as your cruel and haughty ministerial enemies, 
from a contemptuous opinion of your firmness, insolently predict will be the 
case, you must inevitably be reduced to choose either a more dangerous contest, 
or a final, ruinous, and infamous submission. 

Motives thus cogent, arising from the emergency of your unhajipy condition, 
must excite your utmost diligence and zeal to give all })Ossible strength and 
energy to the pacific measures calculated for your relief; but Ave think our- 
selves bound in duty to observe to you, that the schemes agitated against these 



572 SUPPLEMENT. 

colonies have been so conducted as to render it prudent that you should extend 
your views to mournful events, and be, in all respects, prepared for every con- 
tingency. Above all things, we earnestly entreat you, with devotion of spirit, 
penitence of heart, and amendment of life, to humble yourselves, and implore 
the favor of Almighty God ; and we fervently beseech his divine goodness to 
take you into his gracious protection. 



ADDRESS TO THE INHABITANTS OF THE PROVINCE OF 

QUEBEC 

Friends and Fellow-subjects : 

We, the delegates of the colonies of New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, 
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, 
Pennsylvania, the counties of Newcastle, Kent, and Sussex, on Delaware, 
Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, deputed by the inhabitants of the said 
colonies to represent them in a general Congress at Philadelphia, in the province 
of Pennsylvania, to consult together concerning the best methods to obtain 
redress of our afflicting grievances, having accordingly assembled, and taken 
into our most serious consideration the state of public affairs on this continent, 
have thought proper to address your province, as a member therein deeply 
interested. 

When the fortune of w^ar, after a gallant and glorious resistance, had 
incorporated you with the body of English subjects, we rejoiced in the truly 
valuable addition, both on our own and your account, expecting, as courage and 
generosity are naturally united, our brave enemies would become our hearty 
friends, and that the Divine Being would bless to you the dispensations of his 
overruling providence, by securing to you and your latest posterity the ines- 
timable advantages of a free English constitution of government, which it is the 
privilege of all English subjects to enjoy. 

These hopes were confirmed by the king's proclamation, issued in the year 
1763, plighting the public faith for the full enjoyment of those advantages. 

Little did we imagine that any succeeding ministers would so audaciously 
and cruelly abuse the royal authority as to withhold from you the fruition of 
the irrevocable rights to which you were thus justly entitled. 

But since we have lived to see the unexpected time when ministers of this 
flagitious temper have dared to violate the most sacred compacts and obligations, 
and as you, educated under another form of government, have artfully been 
kept from discovering the unspeakable worth of that form you are now undoubt- 
edly entitled to, we esteem it our duty, for the weighty reasons hereinafter 
mentioned, to explain to you some of its most important branches. 

"In every human society," says the celebrated Marquis Beccaria, " there 

' Adopted October 26th, 1774. — Journals of Congress, vol. i., pao^e 55. This was written by 
John Dickenson. See page 219. Peter Force, Esq., of Washington City, has a printed copy of the 
Journals of that Congress, on the margin of which, in the handwriting of Csesar Rodney, one of the 
members, the authorship of these several state papers is thus given. 



STATE PAPERS BY THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS. 573 

is an effort continually tending to confer on one part the height of power and 
happiness, and to reduce the other to the extreme of vreakness and misery. 
The intent of good laws is to oppose this effort, and to diffuse their influence 
universally and equally." 

Rulers stimulated by this pernicious "effort," and subjects animated by the 
just "intent of opposing good laws against it," have occasioned that vast variety 
of events that fill the histories of so many nations. All these histories demon- 
strate the truth of this simple position, that to live by the Avill of one man or 
set of men, is the production of misery to all men. 

On the solid foundation of this principle, Englishmen reared up the fabric 
of their Constitution with such a strength, as for ages to defy time, tyranny, 
treachery, internal and foreign wars ; and, as an illustrious author* of your 
nation, hereafter mentioned, observes, " They gave the people of their colonies 
the form of their own government, and this government carrying prosperity along 
with it, they have grown great nations in the forests they were sent to inhabit." 

In this form, the first grand right is that of the people having a share in 
their own government, by their representatives chosen by themselves, and, in 
consequence, of l^eing ruled by laws which they themselves approve, not by the 
edicts of men over Avhom they have no control. This is a bulwark surrounding 
and defending their property, so that no portions of it can legally be taken from 
them but with their own full and free consent, when they in their judgment deem 
it just and necessary to give them for public services, and precisely direct the 
easiest, cheapest, and most equal methods in which they shall be collected. 

The influence of this right extends still further. If money is wanted by 
rulers who have in any manner oppressed the people, they may. retain it until 
their grievances are redressed, and thus peaceably procure relief without trust- 
ing to despised petitions or disturbing the public tranquillity. 

The next great right is that of trial by jury. This provides that neither 
life, liberty, nor property can be taken from the possessor until twelve of his 
unexceptionable countrymen and peers of his vicinage, who, from that neighbor- 
hood, may reasonably be supposed to be acquainted with his character and the 
characters of his witnesses, upon a fair trial and full inquiry, fiicc to face, in 
open court, before as many of the people as choose to attend, shall pass their 
sentence upon oath against him — a sentence that can not injure him without 
injuring their own reputation, and probably their interest also, as the question 
may turn on points that in some degree concern the general welfare; and if it 
does not, their verdict may form a precedent that, on a similar trial of their 
own, may militate against themselves. 

Another right relates merely to the liberty of the person. If a subject be 
seized and imprisoned, though by order of government, he may. by virtue of 
this right, immediately obtain a Avrit termed a habeas corpus from a judge, 
whose sworn duty it is to grant it, and thereupon procure any illegal restraint 
to be quickly inquired into and redressed. 

' Montesquiea 



rj-j^. SUPPLEMENT. 

A fourth right is that of holding lands hj the tenure of easy rents, and not 
bj rigorous and oppressive services, frequently forcing the possessors from their 
families and their l)usiness, to perform what ought to be done in all well-regu- 
lated states by men hired for the purpose. 

The last right we shall mention regards the freedom of the press. The 
importance of this consists, besides the advancement of truth, science, morality, 
and arts in general, in its diffusion of liberal sentiments on the administration 
of government, its ready communication of thoughts between subjects, and its 
consequential promotion of union among them, whereby oppressive officers are 
shamed or intimidated into more honorable and just modes of conducting affairs. 

These are the invaluable rights that form a considerable part of our mild 
system of government ; that, sending its equitable energy through all ranks and 
classes of men, defends the poor from the rich, the weak from the powerful, the 
industrious from the rapacious, the peaceable from the violent, the tenants from 
the lords, and all from their superiors. 

These are the rights without which a people can not be free and happy, and 
under the protecting and encouraging influence of which these colonies have 
hitherto so amazingly flourished and increased. These are the rights a prof- 
ligate ministry are now striving by force of arms to ravish from us, and which 
we are with one mind resolved never to resign but with our lives. 

These are the rights you are entitled to, and ought at this moment in per- 
fection to exercise. And what is offered to you by the late act of Parliament 
in their place? Liberty of conscience in your religion ? No. God gave it to 
you, and the temporal powers with which you have been and are connected 
firmly stipulated for your enjoyment of it. If laws divine and human could 
secure it against the despotic caprices of wicked men, it was secured before. 
Are the French laws in civil cases restored ? It seems so. But observe the 
cautious kindness of the ministers who pretend to be your benefactors. The 
words of the statute are, "that those laws shall be the rule until they shall be 
varied or altered by any ordinances of the governor and council." Is the 
"certainty and lenity of the criminal law of England, and its benefits and 
advantages," commended in the said statute, and said to have been "sensibly 
felt by you," secured to you and your descendants? No. They too are sub- 
jected to arbitrary " alterations" by the governor and council ; and a power is 
expressly reserved of appointing "such courts of criminal, civil, and ecclesias- 
tical jurisdiction as shall be thought proper." Such is the precarious tenure 
of mere will by which you hold your lives and religion. The crown and its 
ministers are empowered, as far as they could be by Parliament, to establish 
even the Inquisition itself among you. Have you an Assembly composed of 
worthy men, elected by yourselves, and in whom you can confide, to make laws 
for you, to watch over your welfare, and to direct in what quantity and in what 
manner your money shall be taken from you? No. The power of making 
laws for you is lodged in the governor and council, all of them dependent upon 
and removable at the pleasure of a minister. Besides, another late statute, 
made without your consent, has subjected you to the impositions of excise, the 



STATE PAPERS BY THE CONTINEXTAL CONGRESS. 



OtO 



horror of all free states, thus wresting your property from you by the most 
odious of taxes, and laying open to insolent tax-gatherers houses, the scenes of 
domestic peace and comfort, and called the castles of English subjects in the books 
of their law. And in the very act for altering your government, and intended to 
flatter you, you are not authorized to " assess, levy, or apply any rates and taxes 
but for the inferior purposes of making roads, and erecting and repairing public 
buildings, or for other local conveniences within your respective towns and dis- 
tricts." Why this degrading distinction? Ought not the property honestly 
acc^uired by Canadians to l)c held as sacred as that of Englishmen? Have not 
Canadians sense enough to attend to any other public affairs than gathering stones 
from one place and piling them up in another ? Unhappy people ! who are not 
only injured, but insulted. Nay, more ! With such a superlative contempt of 
your understanding and spirit has an insolent ministry presumed to think of you, 
our respectable fellow-subjects, according to the information we have received, as 
firmly to persuade themselves that your gratitude for the injuries and insults 
they have recently offered to you will engage you to take up arms, and render 
yourselves the ridicule and detestation of the world, by becoming tools in their 
hands in taking that freedom from us winch they have treacherously denied to 
you ; the unavoidable consequences of which attempt, if successful, would be 
the extinction of all hopes of you or your posterity being ever restored to free- 
dom ; for idiocy itself can not believe that, when their drudgery is performed, 
they will treat you with less cruelty than they have us, who are of the same 
blood with themselves. 

What would your countryman, the immortal Montesquieu, have said to such 
a plan of domination as has been framed for you ? Hear his words, with an 
intenseness of thought suited to the importance of the subject : "In a free state, 
every man who is supposed a free agent ought to be concerned in his own gov- 
ernment ; therefore the legislative should reside in the whole body of the 
people or their representatives." "The political liberty of the subject is a 
tranquillity of mind, arising from the opinion each person has of his safety. In 
order to have this liberty, it is requisite the government be so constituted as 
that one man need not be afraid of another. When the power of making laws 
and the power of executing them are united in the same person, or in the same 
body of magistrates, there can be no liberty, because apprehensions may arise 
lest the same monarch or senate should enact tyrannical laws to execute them 
in a tyrannical manner." 

" The power of judging should be exercised by persons taken from the body 
of the people, at certain times of the year, and pursuant to a form and manner 
prescribed by law. There is no liberty if the power of judging be not sepa- 
rated from the legislative and executive powers." 

"Military men belong to a profession which may be useful, but is often 
dangerous." " The enjoyment of liberty, and even its support and preserva- 
tion, consists in every man's being allowed to speak his thoughts and lay open 
his sentiments." 

Apply these decisive maxims, sanctified by the authority of a name which 



576 SUPPLEMENT. 

all Europe reveres, to your own State. You have a governor, it may be urged, 
vested ■with the executive powers, or the powers of administration : in him and 
in your Council is lodged the power of making laws. You have judges, who 
are to decide every cause affecting your lives, liberty, or property. Here is, 
indeed, an appearance of the several powers being separated and distributed 
into different hands, for checks upon one another — the only effectual mode ever 
invented by the wit of men to promote their freedom and prosperity. But, 
scorning to be illuded by a tinseled outside, and exerting the natural sagacity 
of Frenchmen, examine the specious device, and you will find it, to use an 
expression of holy writ, " a whited sepulchre" for burying your lives, liberty, 
and property. 

Your judges and your Legislative Council, as it is called, arc dependent on 
your governor, and he is dependent on the servant of the crown in Great Brit- 
ain. The legislative, executive, and judging powers are all moved by the nods 
of a minister. Privileges and immunities last no longer than his smiles. 
"When he frowns, their feeble forms dissolve. Such a treacherous ingenuity 
has been exerted in drawing up the code lately offered to you, that every sen- 
tence beginning with a benevolent pretension concludes with a destructive power ; 
and the substance of the whole, divested of its smooth words, is, that the crown 
and its ministers shall be as absolute throughout your extended province as the 
despots of Asia or Africa. What can protect your property from taxing edicts, 
and the rapacity of necessitous and cruel masters ? your persons from lettres- 
de-cachef^ jails, dungeons, and oppressive services? your lives and general 
liberty from arbitrary and unfeeling rulers ? We defy you, casting your view 
upon every side, to discover a single circumstance promising from any quarter 
the faintest hope of liberty to you or your posterity, but from an entire adoption 
into the union of these colonies. 

What advice would the truly great man before mentioned, that advocate of 
freedom and humanity, give you, were he now living, and knew that we, your 
numerous and powerful neighbors, animated by a just love of our invaded 
rights, and united by the indissoluble bands of affection and interest, called 
upon you by every obligation of regard for yourselves and your children, as we 
now do, to join us in our righteous contest, to make common cause with us 
therein, and take a noble chance for emerging from a humiliating subjection 
under governors, intendants, and military tyrants, into the firm rank and con- 
dition of English freemen, whose custom it is, derived from their ancestors, to 
make those tremble who dare to think of making them miserable ? 

Would not this be the purport of his address? " Seize the opportunity 
presented to you by Providence itself You have been conquered into liberty, 
if you act as you ought. This work is not of man. You are a small people 
compared with those who, with open arms, invite you into a fellowship. A 
moment's reflection should convince you which will be most for your interest 
and happiness, to have a.11 the rest of North America your unalterable friends, 
or your inveterate enemies. The injuries of Boston have roused and associated 
every colony from Nova Scotia to Georgia. Your province is the only link 



STATE PAPERS BY THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS. 577 

wanting to complete the bright and strong chain of union. Nature has joined 
your country to theirs. Do you join your political interests. For their own 
sakes they will never desert or betray you. Be assured that the happiness of 
a people inevitably depends on their liberty and their spirit to assert it. The 
value and extent of the advantages tendered to you are immense. Heaven 
grant you may not discover them to be blessings after they have bid you an 
eternal adieu." 

We are too well acquainted with the liberality of sentiment distinf^uishinw 
your nation, to imagine that difference of religion will prejudice you a^'ainst a 
hearty amity with us. You know that the transcendant nature of freedom 
elevates those who unite in her cause above all such low-minded infirmities. 
The Swiss Cantons furnish a memorable proof of this truth. Their union is 
composed of Roman Catholic and Protestant States, living in the utmost con- 
cord and peace with one another, and thereby enabled, ever since they bravely 
vindicated their freedom, to defy and defeat every tyrant that has invaded 
them. 

Should there be any among you, as there generally are in all societies, who 
prefer the favor of ministers and their own private interests to the welfare of 
their country, the temper of such selfish persons will render them incrcdilily 
active in opposing all public-spirited measures, from an expectation of being 
well rewarded for their sordid industry by their superiors ; but we doubt not 
you will be upon your guard against such men, and not sacrifice the liberty and 
happiness of the whole Canadian people and their posterity to gratify the avar- 
ice and ambition of individuals. 

We do not ask you, by this address, to commence acts of hostility against 
our common sovereign. We only invite you to consult your o^Yn glory and 
welfare, and not to suffer yourselves to be inveigled or intimidated by infamous 
ministers, so far as to become the instruments of their cruelty and despotism, 
but to unite with us in one social compact, formed on the generous principles 
of equal liberty, and cemented by such an exchange of beneficial and endearing 
ofiices as to render it perpetual. In order to complete this highly-desirable 
union, we submit it to your consideration, whether it may not be expedient for 
you to meet together in your several towns and districts, and elect deputies 
who, afterward meeting in a Provincial Congress, may choose delegates to 
represent your province in the Continental Congress to be held at Philadelphia 
on the tenth day of May, 1775. 

In this present Congress, beginning on the fifth of the last month, and 
continued to this day, it has been with universal pleasure, and a unanimous 
vote, resolved that we should consider the violation of your rights, by the act 
for altering the government of your province, as a violation of our own, and 
that you should be invited to accede to our confederation, which has no other 
objects than the perfect security of the natural and civil rights of all the con- 
stituent members, according to their respective circumstances, and the preser- 
vation of a lasting and happy connection with Great Britain on the salutary 
and constitutional principles hereinbefore mentioned. For effecting these pvr- 

37 



578 SUPPLEMENT. 

poses, we have addressed an humble and loyal petition to his majesty, praying 
relief of our and your grievances, and have associated to stop all importations 
from Great Britain and Ireland, after the first day of December, and all 
exportations to those kingdoms and the West Indies, after the tenth day of 
next September, unless the said grievances are redressed. 

That Almighty God may incline your minds to approve our equitable and 
necessary measures, to add yourselves to us, to put your fate, whenever you 
suffer injuries which you are determined to oppose, not on the small influence 
of your single province, but on the consolidated powers of North America, 
and may grant to our joint exertions an event as happy as our cause is just, is 
the fervent prayer of us, your sincere and affectionate friends and fellow-sub- 
jects. 

By order of the Congress, 

Henry Middleton, President. 



PETITION OF CONGRESS TO THE KING.' 

To the King's most excellefit Majesty : 

Most Gracious Sovereign — We your majesty's faithful subjects, of the 
colonies of New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence 
Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, the counties 
of Newcastle, Kent, and Sussex, on Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North 
Carolina, and South Carolina, in behalf of ourselves and the inhabitants of 
these colonies, who have deputed us to represent them in general Congress, by 
this our humble petition beg leave to lay our grievances before the throne. 

A standing army has been kept in these colonies ever since the conclusion of 
the late Avar, without the consent of our Assemblies ; and this army, with a con- 
siderable naval armament, has been employed to force the collection of taxes. 

The authority of the commander-in-chief, and under him the brigadier- 
general, has, in time of peace, been rendered supreme in all the civil govern- 
ments of America. 

The commander-in-chief of all your majesty's forces in North America has, 
in time of peace, been appointed governor of a colony. 

The charges of usual officers have been greatly increased, and new, expens- 
ive, and oppressive offices have been multiplied. 

The judges of admiralty and vice-admiralty courts are empowered to receive 
their salaries and fees from the effects condemned by themselves. 

The officers of the customs are empowered to break open and enter houses 
without the authority of any civil magistrate, founded on legal information. 

The judf^es of courts of common law have been made entirely dependent on 
one part of the Legislature for their salaries, as well as for the duration of their 
commissions. 



' Adopted October 26th, 1774.— Jirarwab of Congress, vol. L, p. G3. This was drawn up by 
John Adams, and corrected by John Dickenson. 



STATE PAPERS BY THE CONTINENTAL CONCxRESS. 579 

Counselors, holding their commissions during pleasure, exercise legislative 
authority. 

Humble and reasonable petitions, from the representatives of the people, 
have been fruitless. 

The agents of the people have been discountenanced, and governors have 
been instructed to prevent the payment of the salaries. 

Assemblies have been repeatedly and injuriously dissolved. 

Commerce has been burdened with many useless and oppressive restrictions. 

By several acts of Parliament, made in the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and 
eighth years of your majesty's reign, duties arc imposed on us for the purpose 
of raising a revenue ; and the powers of admiralty and vice-admiralty courts are 
extended beyond their ancient limits, whereby our property is taken from us 
without our consent, the trial by jury in many civil cases is abolished, enormous 
forfeitures are incurred for slight offenses, vexatious informers are exempted 
from paying damages to which they are justly liable, and oppressive security is 
required from owners before they are allowed to defend their right. 

Both Houses of Parliament have resolved that colonists may be tried in 
England for offenses alleged to have been committed in America, by virtue of a 
statute passed in the thirty-fifth year of Henry the Eighth, and in consequence 
thereof, attempts have been made to enforce that statute. 

A statute was passed in the twelfth year of your majesty's reign, directing 
that persons charged with committing any offense therein described, in any 
place out of the realm, may be indicted and tried for the same in any shire or 
county within the realm, whereby inhabitants of these colonies may, in sundry 
cases by that statute made capital, be deprived of a trial by their peers of the 
vicinage. 

In the last session of Parliament, an act was passed for blocking up the 
harbor of Boston ; another, empowering the governor of the Massachusetts Bay 
to send persons indicted for murder in that province to another colony, or even 
to Great Britain, for trial, whereby such offenders may escape legal punish- 
ment ; a third for altering the chartered constitution of government in that 
province; and a fourth for altering the limits of Quebec, abolishing the English 
and restoring the French laws, whereby great numbers of British Frenchmen 
are subjected to the latter, and establishing an absolute government and the 
Roman Catholic religion throughout those vast regions that border on the west- 
erly and northerly boundaries of the free, Protestant English settlements ; and 
a fifth for the better providing suitable quarters for officers and soldiers in his 
majesty's service in North America. 

To a sovereign who glories in the name of Britain, the bare recital of these 
acts must, we presume, justify the loyal subjects who fly to the foot of hi;, 
throne and implore his clemency for protection against them. 

From this destructive system of colony administration, adopted since the 
conclusion of the last war, have flowed those distresses, dangers, fears, and 
jealousies that overwhelm your majesty's dutiful colonists with affliction: and 
we defy our most subtile and inveterate enemies to trace the unhappy differ- 



580 SUPPLEMENT. 

ences between Great Britain and these colonies from an earlier period, or from 
other causes than we have assigned. 

Had they proceeded on our part from restless levity of temper, unjust 
impulses of ambition, or artful suggestions of seditious persons, we should merit 
the opprobrious terms frequently bestowed on us by those we revere. But, so 
far from promoting innovations, we have only opposed them, and can be 
charged with no offense unless it be one to recieve injuries, and be sensible of 
them. 

Had our creator been pleased to give us existence in a land of slavery, the 
sense of our condition might have been mitigated by ignorance and habit. But, 
thanks be to his adorable goodness, we were born the heirs of freedom, and ever 
enjoyed our right, under the auspices of your royal ancestors, whose family was 
seated on the throne to rescue and secure a pious and gallant nation from the 
popery and despotism of a superstitious and inexorable tyrant. Your majesty, 
we are confident, justly rejoices that your title to the crown is thus founded on 
the title of your people to liberty ; and, therefore, we doubt not but your royal 
wisdom must approve the sensibility that teaches your subjects anxiously to 
guard the blessing they received from divine Providence, and thereby to prove 
the performance of that compact which elevated the illustrious house of Bruns- 
wick to the imperial dignity it now possesses. 

The apprehension of being degraded into a state of servitude from the pre- 
eminent rank of English freemen, while our minds retain the strongest love of 
liberty, and clearly foresee the miseries preparing for us and our posterity, 
excites emotions in our breasts which, though we can not describe, we should 
not wish to conceal. Feeling as men, and thinking as subjects, in the manner 
we do, silence would be disloyalty. By giving this faithful information, we do 
all in our power to promote the great objects of your royal cares, the tranquil- 
lity of your government and the welfare of your people. 

Duty to your majesty, and regard for the preservation of ourselves and our 
posterity, the primary obligations of nature and society, command us to entreat 
your royal attention; and, as your majesty enjoys the signal distinction of 
reigning over freemen, we apprehend the language of freemen can not be dis- 
pleasing. Your royal indignation, we hope, will rather fall on those designing 
and dangerous men, who, daringly interposing themselves between your royal 
person and your faithful subjects, and for several years past incessantly 
employed to dissolve the bonds of society, by abusing your majesty's authority, 
misrepresenting your American subjects, and prosecuting the most desperate 
and irritating projects of oppression, have at length compelled us, by the force 
of accumulated injuries, too severe to be any longer tolerable, to disturb your 
majesty's repose by our complaints. 

These sentiments are extorted from hearts that much more willingly would 
bleed in your majesty's service. Y"et so greatly have we been misrepresented, 
that a necessity has been alleged of taking away our property from us without 
our consent, "to defray the charge of the administration of justice, the support 
of civil government, and the defense, protection, and security of the colonies." 



STATE PAPERS BY THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS. 531 

But VQ beg leave to assure your majesty that such provision has been and will 
be made for defraying the first two articles as has been and shall be judged, by 
the Legislatures of the several colonies, just and suitable to their respective cir- 
cumstances ; and, for the defense, protection, and security of the colonies their 
militia, if properly regulated, as they earnestly desire may iumiodiately be' done, 
would be fully sufficient, at least in times of peace : and in case of war your 
faithful colonists will be ready and willing, as they ever have been when con- 
stitutionally required, to demonstrate their loyalty to your majesty, by exert- 
ing their most strenuous efforts in granting supplies and raising forces. Yielding 
to no British subjects in aff"ectionate attachment to your majesty's person, family 
and government, we too dearly prize the privilege of expressing that attachment 
by those proofs that are honorable to the prince who receives them, and to the 
people who give them, ever to resign it to any body of men upon earth. 

Had we been permitted to enjoy in quiet the inheritance left us l)y our 
forefathers, we should at this time have been peaceably, cheerfully, and usefully 
employed in recommending ourselves by eveiy testimony of devotion to your 
majesty, and of veneration to the State from which we derive our orinrin. But 
though now exposed to unexpected and unnatural scenes of distress by a con- 
tention with that nation in whose parental guidance, on all important affairs, we 
have hitherto, with filial reverence, constaiitly trusted, and therefore can derive 
no instruction in our present unhappy and perplexing circumstances from any 
former experience, yet we doubt not the purity of our intention and the integ- 
rity of our conduct will justify us at that grand tribunal before which all man- 
kind must submit to judgment. 

We ask but for peace, liberty, and safety. We wish not a diminution of 
the prerogative, nor do we solicit the grant of any new right in our favor. 
Your royal authority over us, and our connection with Great Britain, we shall 
always carefully and zealously endeavor to support and maintain. 

Filled with sentiments of duty to your majesty, and of affection to our 
parent State, deeply impressed by our education, and strongly confirmed by 
our reason, and anxious to evince the sincerity of these dispositions, we present 
this petition only to obtain redress of grievances and relief from fears and 
jealousies occasioned by the system of statutes and regulations, adopted since 
the close of the late war, for raising a revenue in America ; extending the 
powers of courts of admiralty and vice-admiralty: trying persons in Great 
Britain for offenses alleged to be committed in America, affecting the pro\nnce 
of Massachusetts Bay ; and altering the government and extending the limits 
of Quebec; by the abolition of which system the harmony l)etwecn Great Brit- 
ain and these colonies, so necessary to the happiness of both, and so ardently 
desired by the latter, and the usual intercourse will be immediately restored. 
In the magnanimity and justice of your majesty and Parliament, we confide for 
a redress of our other grievances, trusting that, when the causes of our appre- 
hensions are removed, our future conduct will prove us not unworthy of the 
regard we have been accustomed, in our happier days, to enjoy : for. a|)pealmg 
to that Bein(^ who searches thoroughly the hearts of his creatures, we solemnly 



682 



SUPPLEMENT. 



profess that our councils have been influenced by no other motives than a dread 
of impending destruction. 

Permit us, then, most gracious sovereign, in the name of all your faithful 
people in America, with the utmost humility, to implore you, for the honor of 
Almighty God, whose pure religion our enemies are undermining ; for your 
glory, which can be advanced only by rendering your subjects happy, and keep- 
ing them united ; for the interests of your family, depending on an adherence 
to the principles that enthroned it ; for the safety and welfare of your kingdoms 
and dominions, threatened with almost unavoidable dangers and distresses, that 
your majesty, as the loving father of your whole people, connected by the same 
bonds of law, loyalty, faith, and blood, though dwelling in various countries, 
will not suffer the transcendant relation formed by these ties to be further vio- 
lated, in uncertain expectation of effects that, if attained, never can compensate 
for the calamities through which they must be gained. 

We, therefore, most earnestly beseech your majesty that your royal author- 
ity and interposition may be used for our relief, and that a gracious answer may 
be given to this petition. 

That your majesty may enjoy every felicity through a long and glorious 
reign, over loyal and happy subjects, and that your descendants may inherit 
your prosperity and dominions till time shall be no more, is, and always will 
be, our sincere and fervent prayer. 



IV. 

A DECLARATION, BY THE SECOND CONTINENTAL CONGRESS, 

SETTING FORTH THE CAUSES AND NECESSITY 

OF THE PEOPLE TAKING UP ARMS.' 

If it was possible for men, -who exercise their reason, to believe that the 
Divine Author of our existence intended a part of the human race to IkjIJ an 
absolute property in, and an unbounded power over, others, marked out by his 
infinite goodness and wisdom, as the objects of a legal domination never right- 
fully resistible, however severe and oppressive, the inhabitants of these colonies 
might at least require from the Parliament of Great Britain some evidence that 
this dreadful authority over them has l^een granted to that body. But a rever- 
ence for our great Creator, principles of humanity, and the dictates of common 
sense, must convince all those who reflect upon the subject, that government was 
instituted to promote the welfare of mankind, and ought to be administered for 
the attainment of that end. The Legislature of Great Britain, however, stim- 
ulated by an inordinate passion for a power not only unjustifiable, but which 
they know to be peculiarly reprobated by the very constitution of that kingdom, 
and desperate of success in any mode of contest where regard should be had to 
truth, law, or right, have, at length, deserting those, attempted to effect their 
cruel and impolitic purpose of enslaving these colonies by violence, and have 
thereby rendered it necessary for us to close with their last appeal from reason 
to arms. Yet, however blinded that assembly may be by their intemperate 
rage for unlimited domination, so to slight justice and the opinion of mankind, 
we esteem ourselves bound by obligations of respect to the rest of tlie Avorld to 
make known the justice of our cause. 

Our forefathers, inhabitants of the island of Great Britain, left their native 
land to seek on these shores a residence for civil and religicus freedom. At 
the expense of their blood, at the hazard of their fortunes, without the least 
charge to their country from which they removed, by unceasing labor and an 
unconquerable spirit, they effected settlements in the distant and inhospitable 
wilds of America, then filled with numerous and warlike nations of barbarians. 
Societies or governments vested with perfect Legislatures were formed under 
charters from the crown, and an harmonious intercourse was established between 
the colonies and the kingdom from which they derived their origin. The mu- 
tual benefits of this union became, in a short time, so extraordinary as to excite 
astonishment. It is universally confessed that the amazing increase of the 



Adopted July 6, 1775. — See Journals of Congress, vol. 1. p. 134. 



584 SUPPLEMENT. 

wealth, strength, and navigation of the reahn arose from this source ; and the 
minister who so wisely and successfully directed the measures of Great Britain 
in the late war publicly declared, that these colonies enabled her to triumph 
over her enemies. Toward the close of that war it pleased our sovereign to 
make a change in his councils. From that fatal moment the aifairs of the Brit- 
ish empire began to fall into confusion, and gradually sliding from the summit 
of glorious prosperity, to which they had been advanced l)y the virtues and 
abilities of one man, are at length distracted by the convulsions that now shake 
it to its deepest foundations. The new ministry, finding the brave foes of 
Britain, though frequently defeated, yet still contending, took up the unfor- 
tunate idea of granting them a hasty peace, and of then subduing her faithful 
friends. 

These devoted colonies were judged to be in such a state, as to present vic- 
tories without bloodshed, and all the easy emoluments of statuteable plunder. 
The uninterrupted tenor of their peaceable and respectful behavior from the 
beginning of colonization — their dutiful, zealous, and useful services during the 
war, though so recently and amply acknowledged in the most honorable man- 
ner by his majesty, by the late king, and by Parliament, could not save them 
from the meditated innovations. Parliament was influenced to adopt the per- 
nicious project, and, assuming a new power over them, have, in the course of 
eleven years, given such decisive specimens of the spirit and consequences at- 
tending this power, as to leave no doubt concerning the effects of acquiescence 
under it. They have undertaken to give and grant our money without our con- 
sent, though we have ever exercised an exclusive right to dispose of our own 
property ; statutes have been passed for extending the jurisdiction of admiralty 
and vice-admiralty courts beyond their ancient limits ; for depriving us of the 
accustomed and inestimable privilege of trial by jury, in cases affecting both 
life and property ; for suspending the Legislature of one of the colonies : for 
interdicting all commerce with the capital of another; and for altering funda- 
mentally the form of government established by charter, and secured by acts 
of its own Legislature solemnly confirmed by the crown ; for exemptinn^ the 
" murderers" of colonists from legal trial, and, in effect, from punishment; for 
erecting in a neighboring province, acquired by the joint arms of Great Britain 
and America, a despotism dangerous to our very existence ; and for quartering 
soldiers upon the colonists in tiiue of profound peace. It has also been resolved 
in Parliament, that colonists charged with committing certain offenses shall be 
transported to England to be tried. 

But why should we enumerate our injuries in detail ? By one statute it is 
declared, that Parliament can " of right make laws to bind us in all cases Avhat- 
soever." "What is to defend us against so enormous, so unlimited, a power? 
Not a single man of those who assume it is chosen by us, or is subject to our 
control or influence ; but, on the contrary, they are all of them exempt from 
the operation of such laws, and an American revenue, if not diverted from the 
ostensible purposes for which it is raised, would actually lighten their own bur- 
dens in proportion as they increase ours. We saw the misery to which such 



A DECLAEATION BY SECOND CONTINENTAL CONGRESS. 585 

despotism would reduce us. We for ten years incessantly and ineffectually be- 
sieged the throne as supplicants: we reasoned, we remonstrated with I'arHa- 
ment in the most mild and decent lan^-uao'e. 

Administration, sensible that we should regard these oppressive measures as 
freemen ought to do, sent over fleets and armies to enforce them. Tlic indig- 
nation of the Americans was roused, it is true, but it was the indi<niation of^a 
virtuous, loyal, and affectionate people. A Congress of delegates from the 
united colonies was assembled at Philadelphia on the fifth day of last Sfptfiii- 
ber. We resolved again to offer an humble and dutiful petition to the kin<' 
and also addressed our fellow-subjects of Great Britain. We have ])ursued 
every temperate, every respectful measure ; Ave have even proceeded to break 
off our commercial intercourse with our fellow-subjects, as the last i)eaceablc 
admonition, that our attachment to no nation on earth should supplant our 
attachment to liberty. This, we flattered ourselves, was the ultimate step of 
the controversy ; but subsequent events have shown how vain was the hope of 
finding moderation in our enemies. 

Several threatening expressions against the colonies were inserted in his 
majesty's speech ; our petition, though we were told it was a decent one. and 
that his majesty had been pleased to receive it graciously, and to promise laying 
it before his Parliament, was huddled into both Houses among a bundle of 
American papers, and there neglected. The Lords and Commons, in their ad- 
dress in the month of February, said, that ''a rebellion at that time actuallv 
existed within the province of Massachusetts Bay ; and that those concerned in 
it had been countenanced and encouraged by unlawful combinations and en- 
gagements, entered into by his majesty's subjects in several of the other colo- 
nies ; and therefore they besought his majesty that he would take tiie most 
effectual measures to enforce due obedience to the laws and authority of the 
supreme Legislature." Soon after, the commercial intercourse of the whole 
colonies, with foreign countries, and with each other, was cut off by an act of 
Parliament : by another, several of them were entirely prohibited fi'om the fish- 
eries in the seas near their coasts, on which they always depended for their sus- 
tenance ; and large reinforcements of ships and troops were immediately sent 
over to General Gage. 

Fruitless were all the entreaties, arguments, and eloquence of an illustrious 
band of the most distinguished peers and commoners, Avho nobly and stren- 
uously asserted the justice of our cause, to stay, or even to mitigate the heed- 
less fury with which these accumulated and unexampled outrages were hurried 
on. Equally fruitless was the interference of the city of London, of Jiristol, 
and many other respectable towns in our favor. Parliament adopted an insid- 
ious movement calculated to divide us, to establish a perpetual auction of tax- 
ations where colony should bid against colony, all of them uniiifonued what 
ransom would redeem their lives, and thus to extort from us, at the i)oint of the 
bayonet, the unknown sum.s that should be sufficient to gratify, if possible to 
gratify, ministerial rapacity, with the miserable indulgenee left to us of raising, 
in our own mode, the prescribed tribute. What terms more rigid and humiliat- 



586 SUPPLEMENT. 

ing could have been dictated by remorseless victors to conquered enemies ? In 
our circumstances to accept them, would be to deserve them. 

Soon after the intelligence of these proceedings arrived on this continent, 
General Gage, who in the course of the last year had taken possession of the 
town of Boston, in the province of Massachusetts Bay, and still occupied it as a 
garrison, on the nineteenth day of April, sent out from that place a large de- 
tachment cf his army, who made an unprovoked assault on the inhabitants of 
the said province, at the town of Lexington, as appears by the affidavits of a 
great number of persons, some of whom were officers and soldiers of that de- 
tachment, murdered eight of the inhabitants, and wounded many others. From 
thence the troops proceeded, in Avarlike array, to the town of Concord, where 
they set upon another party of the inhabitants of the same province, killing sev- 
eral and wounding more, until compelled to retreat by the country people sud- 
denly assembled to repel this cruel aggression. Hostilities, thus commenced 
by the British troops, have been since prosecuted by them without regard to 
faith or reputation. The inhabitants of Boston being confined within that town 
by the general, their governor, and having, in order to procure their dismission, 
entered into a treaty with him, it was stipulated that the said inhabitants, hav- 
ing deposited their arms with their own magistrates, should have liberty to de- 
part, taking with them their other effects. They accordingly delivered up their 
arms, but in open violation of honor, in defiance of the obligation of treaties, 
which even savage nations esteem sacred, the governor ordered the arms depos- 
ited as aforesaid, that they might be preserved for their owners, to be seized by 
a body of soldiers ; detained the greatest part of the inhabitants in the town, 
and compelled the few who were permitted to retire, to leave their most valu- 
able effects behind. 

By this perfidy wives are separated from their husbands, children from 
their parents, the aged and the sick from their relations and friends, who wish 
to attend and comfort them ; and those who had been used to live in plenty and 
even elegance, are reduced to deplorable distress. 

The general, further emulating his ministerial masters, by a proclamation 
bearing date on the twelfth day of June, after venting the grossest falsehoods 
and calumnies against the good people of these colonies, proceeds to ' ' declare 
them all, either by name or description, to be rebels and traitors, to supersede 
the course of the common law, and instead thereof to publish and order the use 
and exercise of the law martial." His troops have butchered our countrymen, 
have wantonly burned Charlestown, besides a considerable number of houses in 
other places ; our ships and vessels are seized ; the necessary supplies of pro- 
visions are intercepted ; and he is exerting his utmost power to spread destruc- 
tion and devastation around him. 

We have received certain intelligence that General Carleton, the governor 
of Canada, is instigating the people of that province and the Indians to fall upon 
us ; and we have but too much reason to apprehend that schemes have been 
formed to excite domestic enemies against us. In brief, a part of these colonies 
now feel, and all of them are sure of feeling, as far as the vengeance of admin- 



A DECLARATION BY SECOND CONTINENTAL CONGRESS. 587 

istration can inflict them, the complicated calamities of fire, sword, and famine. 
We are reduced to the alternative of choosing an unconditional submission to 
the tjrannj of irritated ministers, or resistance by force. The latter is our 
choice. We have counted the cost of this contest, and find nothing so dreadful 
as voluntary slavery. Honor, justice, and humanity, forbid us tamely to sur- 
render that freedom which we received from our gallant ancestors, and wiijch 
our innocent posterity have a right to receive from us. We can not endure the 
inflimy and guilt of resigning succeeding generations to that wretchedness 
which inevitably awaits them, if we basely entail hereditary bondage upon 
them. 

Our cause is just : our union is perfect : our internal resources arc great, 
and, if necessary, foreign assistance is undoubtedly attainable. We gratefully 
acknowledge, as signal instances of the Divine favor toward us, that His Prov- 
idence would not permit us to be called into this severe controversy until we 
were grown up to our present strength, had been previously exercised in war- 
like operations, and possessed of the means of defending oitrselves. With hearts 
fortified with these animating reflections, we most solemnly, before God and 
the world, declare^ that, exerting the utmost energy of those powers wliich our 
beneficent Creator hath graciously bestowed upon us, the arms we have been 
compelled by our enemies to assume, we will, in defiance of every hazard, with 
unabating firmness and perseverance, employ for the preservation of our liber- 
ties ; being with one mind resolved to die freemen rather than to live slaves. 

Lest this declaration should disquiet the minds of our friends and fellow- 
subjects in any part of the empire, we assure them that we mean not to dissolve 
that union which has long and so happily subsisted between us, and which we 
sincerely wish to see restored. Necessity has not yet driven us into that des- 
perate measure, or induced us to excite any other nation to war against them. 
We have not raised armies with ambitious designs of separating from Great 
Britain, and establishing independent States. We fight not for glory nor for 
conquest. We exhibit to mankind the remarkable spectacle of a people attacked 
by unprovoked enemies, without any imputation or even suspicion of offense. 
They boast of their privileges and civilization, and yet profler no milder condi- 
tions than servitude or death. 

In our native land, in defense of the freedom that is our birthright, and 
which we ever enjoyed till the late violation of it — for the protection of our 
property, acquired solely by the honest industry of our forefathers and our- 
selves, against violence actually offered, we have taken up arms. We shall lay 
them down when hostilities shall cease on the part of the aggressors, and all 
danger of their being renewed shall be removed, and not before. 

With an humble confidence in the mercies of the supreme and impartial 
Judge and Ruler of the universe, we most devoutly implore His divine goodness 
to protect us happily through this great conflict, to dispose our adversaries to 
reconciliation on reasonable terms, and thereby to relieve the empire from the 
calamities of civil war. 



588 SUPPLEMENT. 

MEMBERS OF THE FIKST CONTINENTAL CONGRESS. 

The following are the names of the members of the first Continental 
Congress, who assembled at Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia, on the 5th of Sep- 
tember, 1774. Many of these were members of the second Congress, also, 
which assembled at the same place on the 10th of May, 1775. 

Neio Hampshire. — John Sullivan, Natlianial Folsom. 

Massachiisetts. — Thomas Gushing, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine. 

Ehode Island and Providence Plantations. — Stephen Hopkins, Samuel "Ward. 

Connecticut. — Eliphalet Dyer, Roger Sherman, Silas Deane. 

New York. — James Duane, John Jay, Isaac Low, John Alsop, William Floyd, Philip Livingston, 

Henry "Wisner. 
Neio Jersey. — James Kinsey, Stephen Crane, William Livingston, Richard Smith, John De Hart. 
Pennsylvania. — Joseph Galloway, John Morton, Charles Humphreys, Thomas Mifflin, Samuel 

Rhodes, Edward Biddle, George Ross, John Dickenson. 
Delawa/re. — Caesar Rodnej^, Thomas M'Kean, George Read. 
Maryland. — Robert Goldsborough, Samuel Chase, Thomas Johnson, Matthew Tilghman, William 

Paca. 
Virginia. — Peyton Randolph, Richard Henry Lee, George Washington, Patrick Henry, Richard 

Bland, Benjamin Harrison, Edmund Pendleton. 
Korth Carolina. — William Hooper, Joseph Hughes, Ricliard Caswell. 
South Carolina. — Henry Middleton, John Rutledge, Thomas Lynch, Christopher Gadsden, Edward 

Rutledge. 

The several, sessions of the Continental Congress were commenced as fol- 
lows: September 5, 1774, also May lU, 1775, at Philadelphia ; December 20, 
1776, at Baltimore ; March 4, 1777, at Philadelphia ; September 27, 1777, at 
Lancaster. Pennsylvania; September 30, 1777, at York, Pennsylvania; July 
2, 1778, at Philadelphia; June 30, 1783, at Princeton, New Jersey ; Novem- 
ber 26, 1783, at Annapolis, Maryland ; November 1, 1784, at Trenton, New 
Jersey ; June 11. 1785, at New York, which, from that time, continued to be 
the place of meeting until the adoption of the Federal Constitution. 



V. 



THE DECLARATION OF lx\DEPENDENCE. 



__ x^^^ 




The bold Resolution offered in the Continental Congress, by Richard Henry 
Lee, of Virginia, on the 7th of June, 1776, -which declared the American 
colonies Free and Indepexdent States, was, as we have observed.' debated 
for three days, when the further consideration of it was postponed until the 
first of July, and a comnuttee was appointed to draw up an accompanying 
Declaration. On the day specified, the motion was brought up in the commit- 
tee of the whole House, Benjamin Harrison, of Virginia (fiither of the late 
President Harrison), in the chair. Tlie draft of a Declaration of Independence 
was reported at the same time, and for three consecutive days, it was debated 
by paragraphs, seriatim. Many alterations, omissions, and amendments were 
made. The following is a copy of the original draft, from the pen of Thomas 
Jefferson, before any amendments were made in committee of the whole. The 
passages omitted by Congress are printed in italics, and the substitutions are 
given in notes at the bottom of the page :" 



' Page 251. 

^ John Adams, in bis autobiography, gives the following: rea-sons why ifr. Jefferson was chosen 
to write the Declaration : " Mr. Jefierson had been now about a year a member of Congress, but 



590 SUPPLEMENT. 

A Declaration by the Representatives of the United States op America, 
in general Congress assembled : 

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people 
to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to 
assume, among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which 
the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the 
opinions of mankind requires that thej should declare the causes which impel 
them to the separation. 

We hold these truths to be self-evident : that all men are created equal ; 
that they are endowed by their Creator Avith inherent and inalieiiahJe^ rights ; 
that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness ; that, to secure 
these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers 
from the consent of the governed; that, whenever any form of government 
becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to 
abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such prin- 
ciples, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most 
likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate, that 
governments long established, should not be changed for light and transient 



had attended his duty in the House a very small part of the time, and when there had never spoken 
in public. During the whole time I sat with him in Congress, I never heard him utter three sen- 
tences together. 

" It will naturally he inquired how it happened that he was appointed on a committee of such 
importance. There were more reasons than one. Mr. Jefterson had the reputation of a masterly 
pen; he had been chosen a delegate in Virginia in consequence of a very handsome public paper 
which he had written for the House of Burgesses, which had given him the character of a fine 
writer. Another reason was, that Mr. Richard Henry Lee was not beloved by the most of his 
colleagues from Virginia, and Mr. Jefterson was sent up to rival and supplant him. This could be 
done only by the pen, for Mr. Jefferson could stand no competition with him, or any one else, in 
elocution and public debate. 

" The committee had several meetings, in which were proposed the articles of which the Decla- 
ration was to consist, and minutes made of them. The committee then appouitcd Mr. Jefferson and 
me to draw them uj) in form, and clothe them in a proper dress. The sub-committee met, and con- 
sidered the minutes, making such observations on them as then occurred, when ilr. Jefferson 
desired me to take them to my lodgings and make the draft. This I dechned, and gave several 
reasons for so doing : 

" 1. That he was a Virginian, and I a Massachusettensian. 2, That he was a Southern man, 
and I a Northern one. 3. That I had been so obnoxious for my early and constant zeal in pro- 
moting the measure, that every draft of mine would undergo a more severe scrutiny and criticism 
in Congress than one of his composition. 4. And lastly, and that would be reason enough, if there 
were no other, I had a great opinion of the elegance of his pen, and none at all of my OAvn. I 
therefore insisted that no hesitation should be made on his part. He accordingly took the minutes, 
and in a day or two produced to me his draft." 

On the 8th of July, four days after the amended Declaration was adopted, Mr. Jefferson wrote 
the following letter, and sent it, with the original draft to Mr. Lee, who was then at his home in. 
Virginia, with his sick wife : 

" PniLAPELPniA, July S, 1776. 

" Dear Sir — For news, I refer you to your brother, who writes on that head. I inclose you a 
copy of the Declaration of Independence, as agreed to by the House, and also as originally framed ; 
you will judge whether it is the better or the worse for the critics. I shall return to Virginia after 
the 11th of August. I wish my successor may be certain to come before that time; in that case, I 
hope I shall see you, and not Wythe, in convention, that the business of government, which is of 
everlasting concern, may receive your aid. Adieu, and beheve me to be your friend and servant, 

"Thomas Jefferson." 

"To EicnAKD Henet Lee, Esq." 

* Certain unalienable 



THE DECLARATIOX OP INDEPENDENCE. 



91 



causes. And, accordingly, all experience hath shown that mankind arc more 
disposed to sufter. while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolish- 
ing the forms to which they are accustomed. But wlieu a long tnuTi of abuses 
and usurpations, hegwi at a distinr/uishcd period, and pursuing invariably the 
same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is 
their right, it is their duty, to throw oif such government, and to provide new 
guards for their future security. Such has been the patient suftcrantv of these 
colonies ; and such is now the necessity whicli constrains them to er/nfuje' their 
former systems of government. The history of the present Kin" of Great 
Britain is a history o? tm7^emil ting" injuries and usurpations; among irhir/i 
appears no solitary fact to contradict thi uniform tenor of the rest ; but all 
have,'' in direct object, the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these 
States. To prove this, let ficts be submitted to a candid world ; for the truth 
of v'hich we pledge a faith yet 7///s-itUied by falsehood. 

He has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome and necessary for tlic 
public good. 

He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing 
importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be 
obtained ; and when so suspended, he has neglected utterly* to attend to them. 

Pie has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of larrre districts 
of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in 
the Legislature ; a right inestimable to them, and formidable to tyrants only. 

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, 
and distant from the repository of their public records, for the sole purjtuse of 
fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. 

He has dissolved representative Houses repeatedly and continually, for 
opposing with manly firmness his invasions of tiie rights of the people. 

He has refused, for a long time after such dissolutions, to cause others to 
be elected, whereby the legislative poAvers, incapable of amiihilation. have 
returned to the people at large for their exercise, the State remaining, in the 
mean time, exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without and convulsions 
within. 

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these States ; for that pur- 
pose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners ; refusing to pass 
others to encourage their migrations hither ; and raising the conditions of new 
appropriations of lands. 

He has suffered the administration of justice totally to cease in some of 
these States," refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers. 

He has made our judges dependent on his Avill alone, for the tenure of their 
offices and the amount and payment of their salaries. 

He has erected a multitude of new offices by a self-assumed poH\ r. and 
sent hither swarms of officers to harass our peoj)le and eat out their substance. 



» Alter » Repeated ' Having * Utterly neglected 

^ He h.is obstructed the administration of justice, by 



592 SUPPLEMENT. 

He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies and ships of 
vmr, Avithout the consent of our Legislatures. 

He has aifected to render the military independent of, and superior to, the 
civil power. 

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our 
constitutions, and unacknowledged by our laws ; giving his assent to their acts 
of pretended legislation ; 

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us ; 

For protecting them, by a mock trial, from punishment for any murders 
which they should commit on the inhabitants of these States ; 

For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world ; 

For imposing taxes on us without our consent ; 

For depriving us' of the benefits of trial by jury; 

For transporting us beyond the seas to be tried for pretended offenses ; 

For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, 
establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries, so 
as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same 
absolute rule into these States / 

For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and alter- 
ing fundamentally the forms of our governments ; 

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested 
with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. 

He has abdicated government here, v-ithdrawing his governors^ and,'' de- 
claring us out of his alletj'iance and protection, and waging war against us. 

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burned our towns, and de- 
stroyed the lives of our people. 

He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to com- 
plete the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circum- 
stances of cruelty and perfidy^ unworthy the head of a civilized nation. 

He has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers the merciless 
Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is an undistinguished destruction 
of all ages, sexes, and conditions of existence ; he has excited treasonable m- 
siirrections of our fellow-citizens with the allurements of forfeiture and 
confiscation of our propei'ty. 

He has constrained others,^ taken captive on the high seas, to bear arms 
against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, 
or to fall themselves by their hands. 

He has waged cruel war against human nature itself ^ violating its most 
sacred rights of life and liherty in the jjersofis of a distant people^ who 
never offended him, captivating and carrying them, into slavery in another 
hemisphere, or to incur miserable death in their transportation thither. 
This piratical warfare, the opprohrimn of infidel potvers, is the ivajfare of 
the Christian King of Great Britain. Determined to keep open a market 

' In many cases " Colonies. ' By 

* Scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally ^ Our fellow-citizens 



THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 593 

whej^e MEN should be bought and sold, he has prof^titnted his negative for 
suppressing every legislative attempt to prohibit or to restrain this execrable 
commerce. And that this assemblage of horrors might want no fact of 
distinguished dye, he is now exciting those very people to rise in arms 
among us, and to purchase that liberty of which he has dcpriced them, by 
murdering the people upon whom he obtruded them : thus paying off' former 
crimes committed against the liberties of one people with crimes which he 
urges them to commit against the lives of another * 

In every stage of these oppressions, we have petitioned for redress in the 
most humble terms : our repeated petitions have been answered only by re- 
peated injury. A prince whose character is thus marked by every act which 
may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a people icho mean to be free' 
Future ages will scarce believe that the hardi?iess of one man advefitured, 
icithin the short compass of tivelve years only, to build a fouudation, so 
broad and undisguised, for tyranny over a people fostered and fixed in 
principles of freedom. 

Nor have we been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. "VVe have 
warned them, from time to time, of attempts by their Legislature to extend a* 
jurisdiction over these our States.^ We have reminded them of the circum- 
stances of our emigration and settlement here, 7io one of rrhich could warrant 
so strange a pretension ; that these irere effected at the expense of our own 
blood and treasure, unassisted by the wealth or the strength of Great Brit- 
ain ; that, in constituting, indeed, our several forms of government, we had 
adopted one common king, thereby laying a foundatio)i for perpetual league 
and amity with them ; but that submission to their Parliament icas no part 
of our Constitution, nor ever in idea, if history may be credited ; and we* 
appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, as well as to' the ties of our 
common kindred, to disavow these usurpations, which were likely to^ interrupt 
our connection and correspondence. They, too, have been deaf to the voice 
of justice and consanguinity ; and when occasions have been given them, by 
the regular course of their latas, of removing from their councils the dis- 
turbers of our harmony, they have, by their free election, re-established them 
in poiver. At this very time, too, they are jJermitting their chief magis- 
trate to send over, not only soldiers of our common blood, but [Scotch^ and] 
foreign mercena?'ies to invade and destroy us. These facts have given 

* It has been asserted that this paratjraph was cxpunf^od because it was not palatable to those 
delegates who were slaveholders, and that it was stricken out lest it should cause tliem to cast a 
negative vote on the question. There is no proof that such selfish motives actuated any member 
of that assembly. It was a sacred regard for truth which caused it to be stricken out. i\o such 
charge as the paragraph contained could justly be made against George III., then under arraign- 
ment. The slave-trade was begim and carried on long before the reign of any of his house, and it 
is not known that he ever gave his assent to anv thing relating to slavery, except to abolish it, and 
to declare the trade a piracy. By a resolution offered by Charles F. Mercer, of \ irginia, and 
adopted bv Congress in 1817, the slave-trade was declared "a piracy." Mr. Jefferson was the first 
American^statesman. and probably the first writer of modem times, who denounced that infamous 
traffic as " a piratical warfare."— See Life of Richard Henry Lee, i., 176. ^ 

' Free people * An unwarrantable . . , ^ . . , , 

* Have ' And we have conjured them by ^^ ould mevitably 

t Dr. Witherspoon, who was a Scotchman by birth, moved the striking out of the word Scokh. 

37 



594 SUPPLEMENT. 

the last stab to agonizing affection, and manly spirit bids 7is to renounce 
forever these vnfeelhig brethren. We must endeavor to forget our former 
Jove for them ; we must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity which denounces 
our separation, and hold them as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, 
in peace, friends. 

We tniglit have been a free and great people together ; but a communi- 
cation of grandeur and of freedom., it seems, is below their dignity. Be it 
so, since they will have it. The road to happiness and to glory is open to 
us, too ; we will climb it apart from them, and acquiesce in the necessity 
ivhich deiiounces our eternal separation. 

We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in gen- 
eral Congress assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the 
rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by the authority of the good 
people of these States,' reject and renounce all allegiance and subject }o)t, to 
the kings of Great Britain, and all others who may hereafter claim by, 
through, or under them, ; we utterly dissolve all j^olitical connection ichich 
may heretofore have subsisted between us and the Parliament or people of 
Great Britain ; and, finally, we do assert the colonies to be free and inde- 
p)ende7it States; and that, as free and independent States, they have full 
power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and 
to do all other acts and things which independent States may of right do. And 
for the support of this Declaration, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, 
our fortunes, and our sacred honor. 

Mr. Lee's resolution, declaring the colonies "free and independent States," 
was adopted on the 2d of July, and that day, rather than the 4th, should be 
celebrated as our national anniversary. It was only the /or??* of the Declara- 
tion^ which accompanied the resolution, that was adopted on the latter day. 

The debates on the question of the adoption of the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence were long and animated, for there was very little unanimity in feeling 
when they began in Juno. Richard Henry Lee, the Adamses, of Massachu- 
setts, Dr. Witherspoon, of New Jersey, and Edward Rutledge, of South Car- 
olina, were the chief speakers in favor of the measure ; and John Dickenson, 
of Pennsylvania, against it. Although it was evident, from the first introduc- 
tion of the resolution, that a majority of the colonies would vote for it, its 
friends were fearful that a unanimous vote could not be obtained, inasmuch as 
two of the Assemblies of Maryland and Pennsylvania had refused to sanction 
the measure, and those of Georgia, South Carolina, and New York, were silent. 
Anxiously did the friends of the measure endeavor to win the wavering, and at 
length they were successful. On the 4th of July, 1776, a unanimous vote of 
the thirteen colonies was given in favor of the great Declaration.'' The record 

^ Colonies. See concluding paragraph of the Declaration, page 601. 

* On the 9th of September, 1776, Congress resolved, "That in all continental commissions, and 
other instruments, where, heretofore, the words " United Colonies" have been used, the style be 
altered, for the future, to the "United States." Prom that day, the word "Colony" is not known 
in our history. 



THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. ro- 

of the event Avas made in the following plain manner, in the journul of Concresa 
for that day :' 

"Agreeably to the order of the day, the Congress resolved itself into a 
committee of the whole, to take into their further consideration the Declaration : 
and, after some time, the president resumed the chair, and 'Sir. Harrison 
reported that the committee have agreed to a Declaration, which they desired 
him to report. The Declaration being read, was agreed to as follows :" 

A DECLARATION BY THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES OP 
AMERICA, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED. 

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people 
to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to 
assume, among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station, to which 
the laws of nature, and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the 
opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel 
them to the separation. 

We hold these truths to be self-evident — -that all men are created equal ; 
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights ; that 
among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That, to secure 
these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers 
from the consent of the governed; that, whenever any form of government 
becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish 
it, and to institute a new government, laying its foundations on such principles, 
and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to 
effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that govern- 
ments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes ; 
and, accordingly, all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to 
suffer, •while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the 
forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and 
usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce 
them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off 
such a government, and to provide new guards for their future security. Such 
has been the patient sufferance of these colonies, and such is now the necessity 
which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The 
history of the present King of Great Britain, is a history of repeated injuries 
and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute 
tyranny over these States. To prove this, let facts be submitte^l to a candid 
world. 

He has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome and necessary f jr the 
public good." 

' The great importance of the event does not seem to have heen realized even by many men in 
public life. Anderson, in his Constitutional Gazette, announced tlie fact thus, as a mere on rfi/, wnth- 
out comment or further reference to the subject: " On Tuesday last, the Continental Congress 
declared the United Colonies free and independent States." 

= The colonial assemblies from time to time made enactments touchmg theu- commercial opera- 
tions, the emission of a colonial currency, and concerning representatives m the mipcrial paraainent. 



596 SUPPLEMENT. 

He lias forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing im- 
portance, unless suspended in their operations till his assent should be obtained ; 
and, when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.' 

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts 
of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the 
Legislature — a right inestimable to them, and formidable to tyrants only.'* 

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, 
and distant from the repository of their public records, for the sole purpose of 
fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.^ 

He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing, with manly 
firmness, his invasions on the rights of the people.* 



but the assent of the sovereign to these laws was withheld. After the Stamp Act excitements 
[page 214], Secretary Conway informed the Americans that the tumults should be overlooked, pro- 
vided the Assemblies would make provision for fuU compensation for all public property which had 
been destroyed. In complying with this demand, the Assembly of Massachusetts thought it would 
be " wholesome and necessary for the puljlic good," to grant free pardon to all who had been 
engaged in the disturbances, and passed an act accordingly. It would have produced quiet and 
good feehng, but the royal assent was refused. 

' In 1764, the Assembly of New York took measures to conciliate the Six Nations, and other 
Indian tribes. The motives of the Assembly were misconstrued, representations having been made 
to the king that the colonies wished to make allies of the Indians, so as to increase their physical 
power and proportionate independence of t!ie British crown. The monarch sent instructions to all 
his governors to desist from such alliances, or to suspend their operations until his assent should bo 
given. He then " utterly neglected to attend to them." The Massachusetts Assembly passed a law 
in 1770, for taxing officers of the British government in that colony. The governor was ordered to 
withhold his assent to such tax-bill. This was in violation of the colonial charter, and the people 
justly complained. The Assembly was prorogued from time to time, and laws of great importance 
were " utterly neglected." 

^ A law was passed by Parliament in the spring of 1774, by which the popular representative 
system in the province of Quebec (Canada) was annulled, and ofBccrs appointed by the crown, 
had all power as legislators, except that of levying taxes. The Canadians being Eoman Catholics, 
were easily pacilied under the new order of things, by having their religious system declared the 
established religion of the province. But "large districts of people" bordering on Nova Scotia, felt 
this deprivation to be a great grievance. Their humble petitions concerning commercial regulations 
were unheeded, because they remonstrated against the new order of things, and Governor Carleton 
[page 240] plainly told them that they must cease their clamor about representatives, before they 
should have any new commercial laws. A bill for " better regulating the government in the prov- 
ince of Massachusetts Bay," passed that year, provided for the abridgment of the privileges of pop- 
ular elections, to take the government out of the hands of the people, and to vest the nomination 
of judges, magistrates, and even slicriffs, in the crown. When thus deprived of "free representation 
in the Legislature," and the governor refused to issue warrants for the election of members of the 
Assembly, they called a convention of the freemen, and asked for the passage of " laws for the 
accommodation of large districts of people." These requests were disregarded, and they were told 
that no laws should be passed until they should quietly " relinquish the right of representation in 
the Legislature — a right inestimable to them, and formidalile to tyrants only." 

" In consequence of the destruction of tea in Boston Harbor [page 225] in 1773, the inhabitants 
of that town became the special objects of royal displeasure. The Boston Port Bill [page 225] was 
passed as a punishment. The custom-house, courts, and other public operations were removed to 
Salem, while tlie public records were kept in Boston, and so well guarded by two regiments of 
soldiers, that the patriotic members of the colonial Assembly could not have refeiTcd to them. 
Although compelled to meet at a place [page 225] " distant from the repository of the public 
records," and in a place extremely "uncomfortable," they were not fatigued into compliance, but in 
spite of the efforts of the governor, they elected delegates to a general Congress [page 227], and 
adopted other measures for the public good. 

* "When the British government became informed of the flict that the Assembly of Massachu- 
setts, in 1768, had issued a circular [page 219] to other Assemblies, inviting their co-operation in 
asserting the principle that Great Britain had no right to tax the colonists without their consent, 
Lord Hillsborough, the Secretary for Foreign Affiirs, was directed to order the governor of Massa- 
chusetts to require the Assembly of that province to rescind its obnoxious resolutions expressed in 
the circular. In case of their refusal to do so, the governor was ordered to dissolve them imme- 
diately. Otlier AssembUes were warned not to imitate that of Massachusetts, and when they 



THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 597 

He has refused, for a long time after such dissolutions, to cause others to 
be elected, whereby the legislative powers, incapa1)le of annihilation have 
returned to the people at large for their exercise ; tlie State reniainin-', in the 
mean time, exposed to all the dangers of invasions from without and convul- 
sions from within.' 

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these States ; for that pur- 
pose obstructing the laws for the naturalization of foreigners ; refusin<T to pass 
others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new 
appropriations of lands.'' 

He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusin<T his assent to 
laws for establishing judiciary powers.' 

He has made judges dependent on his will alone for the tenure of their 
offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.'' 



refused to accede to the wishes of the king, aa expressed by the several royal governors, they were 
repeatedly dissolved. The Assembhes of Virginia and North Carolina were dissolved for denjnng 
the right of the king to tax the colonies, or to remove ollender.s out of the countr\-, for trial. [See 
page 221.] In 1774, when tlie several Assemblies entertained tho proposition to elect delegates to 
a general Congress [page 227], nearly all of them were dissolved. 

' When the Assembly of New York, in 17GG, refused to comply with the provisions of the 
Mutiny Act [page 218], its legislative functions were suspended by royal authority [page 218], 
and for several months the State remained " exposed to all tho dangers of invasion from without, 
and convulsions within." The Assembly of Massachusetts, after its dissolution in July, 1768. 
was not permitted to meet again until tho last Wednesday of May, 1709, and then they found the 
place of meeting surrounded by a military guard, with cannons pointed directly at their place of 
meeting. They refused to act under such tyrannical restraint, and their legislative powers " returned 
to the people." 

* Secret agents were sent to America soon after the accession of George the Third to the throne 
of England [page 212], to spy out the condition of the colonists. A large inllux of liberty-loving 
German emigrants was observed, and the king was advised to discourage these immigrations. 
Obstacles in the way of procuring lauds, and otherwise, were put in tho way of all emigrants, except 
from England, and tlio tendency of French Roman Catholics to settle in Maryland, was also dis- 
couraged. The British government was jealous of the increasing power of the colonic.*, and the 
danger of having that power controlled by democratic ideas, caused tho employment of restrictive 
measures. The easy conditions upon which actual settlers might obtain lands on the western fron- 
tier, after the peace of 1763 [page 211], were so changed, that toward the dawning of the Revolu- 
tion, the vast solitudes west of the Alleghanics were seldom penetrated by any but the hunter from 
the sea-board provinces. When tlie War for Independence broke out, immigration had almost 
ceased. The king conjectured wisely, for almost the entire German population in the colonies, were 
on the side of the patriots. 

=' By an Act of Parliament in 1774, the judiciary was taken from tho people of Ma.ssachuaetts. 
The judges were appointed by the king, were depeiident on him for their salaries, and were subject 
to his will. Their salaries were paid from moneys drawn from the people by the commissioners of 
customs [page 220], in the form of duties. The same act deprived them, in most cases, of the 
benefit of trial by jury; and the "administration of justice" was ellectually obstructed Tlio rights 
for which Englishmen so manfuHv contended in 1688 [note 7, page 113], were trampled underfoot. 
Similar grievances concerning the courts of law, existed in other colonies, and throughout the 
Anglo-American [note 1, page 19 J] domain there was but a semblance of justice left. The people 
met in conventions, when Assemblies were dissolved, and endeavored to establish "judiciarj- 
powers," but in vain, and were fimdly driven to rebellion. 

* As we have observed in note" 2, page 596, judges were made independent of the people. 
Royal governors were placed in tlie same position. Instead of checking their tendency to jH-'tty 
tyranny, by having them depend upon the colonial Assemblies for their salaries, these were paid 
out of the national treasurv. Independent of the people, they luul no sympatliies with the ^K>oplo. 
and thus became fit instruments of oppression, and ready at all times to do the bidding ol the king 
and his ministers Tho colonial .Vssemblies protested against the measure, and out of the excite- 
ment which it produced, grew that power of the Revolution, the committees of correspondence 
[note 2 page 224]. When, in 1774, Chief Justice Oliver, of Massachusetts, declared it to be 
his intention to receive his salarv from the crown, the Assembly proceeded to impeach him. and 
petitioned the governor for his removal The governor refused comphance, and great irritation 
ensued- 



598 SUPPLEMENT. 

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers 
to harass our people and eat out their substance.' 

He has kept among us in times of peace, standing armies, without the con- 
sent of our Legislatures.^ 

He has affijcted to render the military independent of, and superior to, the 
civil power. ^ 

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our 
constitutions, and unacknowledged bj our laws ; giving his assent to their acts 
of pretended legislation :* 

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us f 

For protecting them, by a mock trial, from punishment for any murders 
which they should commit on the inhabitants of these States f 

For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world f 

* After the passage of the Stamp Act, stamp distributors were appointed in every considerable 
town. In 1766 and IIQI, acts for the collection of duties created "swarms of ofBcers," aU of whom 
received high salaries; and when, in 1768, admiraltj^ and vice-admiralty courts were established 
on a new basis, an increase in the number of officers was made. The high salaries and extensive 
perquisites of all of these, were paid with the people's money, and thus " swarms of ofiSeers" " eat 
out their substance." 

^ After the treaty of peace with France, in 1763 [page 211], Great Britain left quite a large 
number of troops in America, and required the colonists to contribute to their support. There was 
no use for this standing army, except to repress the growing spirit of democracy among the 
colonists, and to enforce compliance with taxation laws. The presence of troops was always a 
cause of complaint, and when, finally, the colonists boldly opposed the unjust measures ol' the 
British government, armies were sent hither to awe the people into submission. It was one of 
those "standing armies," kept here '"without the consent of the Legislature," against which the 
patriots at Lexington, and Concord [page 233], and Bunker IliU [page 235], so manfully battled in 
1775. 

^ General Gage, commander-in-chief of the British forces in America, was appointed governor 
of Massachusetts, in 1774; and to put the measures of the Boston Port Bill [page 225], into execu- 
tion, he encamped several regiments of soldiers upon Boston Common. The military there, and 
also in New York, was made independent of, and superior to, the civil power, and this, too, in a 
time of peace, before the minute men [page 229] were organized. 

* The establishment of a Board of Trade, to act independent of colonial legislation through its 
creatm-es (resident commissioners of customs) in the enforcement of revenue laws, was altogether 
foreign to the constitution of any of the colonies, and produced great indignation. The establish- 
ment of this power, and the remodelling of the admiralty courts, so as to exclude trial by jury 
therein, in most cases, rendered the government fully obnoxious to the charge in the text. The 
people felt their degradation under such petty tyranny, and resolved to spurn it. It was effectually 
done in Boston, as we have seen [page 220], and the government, after all its bluster, was obliged 
to recede. In 1774, the members of the council of Massachusetts (answering to our Senate) were, 
by a parliamentary enactment, chosen by the king, to hold the office during his pleasure. Almost 
unlimited power was also given to the governor, and the people were indeed subjected to "a juris- 
diction foreign to their constitution," by these creatures of royalty. 

* In 1774 seven hundred troops were landed in Boston, under cover of the cannons of British 
armed ships in the harbor ; and early the following year. Parliament voted ten thousand men for 
the American service, for it saw the wave of rebellion rising high imder the gale of indignation 
which unrighteous acts had spread over the land. The tragedies at Lexington and Concord soon 
followed, and at Bunker Hill the War for Independence was opened in earnest. 

* In 1768, two citizens of Annapolis, in Maryland, were murdered bj- some marines belonging 
to a British armed ship. The trial was a mockery of justice, and in the face of clear evidence 
against them, they were acquitted. In the difficulties with the Regulators [page 223] in North 
Carolina, in 1771, some of the soldiers who had shot down citizens, when standing up in defense of 
their rights, were tried for murder and acquitted, while Governor Tryon mercilessly hung six pris- 
oners, who were certninl}- entitled to the benefits of tlie laws of war, if his own soldiers were. 

' The navigation laws [note 3, page 177] were always oppressive in character; and in 1764, 
the British naval commanders having been clothed with the authority of custom-house officers, 
completely broke up a profitable trade which the colonists had long enjoyed with the Spanish and 
French West Indies, notwitlistanding it was in violation of the old Navigation Act of 1660 [note 4, 
page 109], which had been almost inefiectual. Finally, Lord North concluded to punish the 



THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 599 

For imposing taxes on us M-itliout our consent ;' 
For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury ;' 
For transporting us beyond seas, to be tried for pretended ofll-nsc's;' 
For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighlxjiing province, 
establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries, so 
as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducintr the same- 
absolute rule into these colonies ;" 

For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and alter- 
ing, fundamentally, the forms of our governments ;' 

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested 
with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever." 

He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection, 
and waging war against us.' 

refractory colonists of New England, by crippling their commerce [page 231] with Great Britain. 
Ireland, and the West Indies. Fishing on the banks of Newfoundland was also prohiljited, and 
thus, as far as parliamentary enactments could accomplish it, their "trade with all parts of" the 
world'' was cut off. 

' In addition to the revenue taxes imposed from time to time, and attempted to be collected by 
means of writs of assistance [page 212], the Stamp Act [page 213] was passed, and duties upon 
paper, painters' colors, glass, tea, etc., were levied. This was the great bone of contention between 
the colonists and the imperial government. It was contention, on the one hand, for tho great po- 
litical truth, that taxation and representation are inseparable, and a lust for power, and the means for 
replenishing an exhausted treasury, on the other. The climax of the contention was the Revolu- 
tion. 

^ This was especially the case, when commissioners of customs were concerned in the suit. 
After these functionaries were driven from Boston in 1768 [page 220], an act was passed which 
placed violations of the revenue laws under tlie jurisdiction of the admiralty courts, where tlie of- 
fenders were tried by a creature of the crown, and were deprived " of tho benefits of trial by 
jury." 

^ A law of 1774 provided that any person in the province of Massachusetts, who should be 
accused of riot, resistance of magistrates or the oSicers of customs, murder, "or any other capital 
offense," might, at the option of the governor, be taken for trial to another colony, or transported to 
Great Britain, for the purpose. The minister pretended that impartial justice could not be admin- 
istered in Massachusetts, but the facts of Captain Preston's case [page 222] refuted his arguments, 
in that direction. The bill was violently opposed in ParUament, yet it became law. It was de- 
creed that Americans might be "transported beyond the seas, to be tried for pretended offenses," 
or real crimes. 

•• This charge is embodied in an earlier one [page 596], considered in note 2, page 596. The 
British ministry thought it prudent to take early steps to secure a footing in America, so near tho 
scene of inevitable rebellion, as to .allow them to breast, successfully, the gathering storm. Tho 
investing of a legislative council in Canada, with all jjowers except levying of taxes, was a great 
stride toward that absolute military rule which bore sway there within eigliteen months afterward. 
Giving up their political rights for'doubtful religious privileges, made them willing slaves, and Can- 
ada remained a part of the British empire, when its sister colonics rejoiced in freedom. 

^ This is a reiteration of the cliarge considered in note 2, page 596, and refers to the alteration 
of the Massachusetts charter, so as to make judges and other ofiBcers independent of the people, and 
subservient to the crown. Tho governor was empowered to remove and appoint all inferior judges, 
the attorue3'-general, provosts, marshals, and justices of the peace, and to appoint sheriffs inde- 
pendent of the council. As the sherifts chose jurors, trial by jury might easily be made a mere 
mockery. The people had hitherto been allowed, by tlieir charter, to select jurors ; now the whole 
matter was placed in the hands of creatures of government. 

^ This, too, is another phase of the charge just considered. We have noticed the suppression 
of tho Legislature of New York [page 218], and, in several cases, the governors, after dis.<olvmg 
colonial A.sserablies. assumed the right to make proclamations stand in the place of .statute law. 
Lord Dunmoro assumed this risht in 1775, and so did Sir James Wright, of Georgia, and Lord W il- 
liam Campbell, of South Carolina. Thev were driven from tho country, in cons^equence. 

' In his message to Parliament early in 1775, the king declared the colonists to be in a state 
of open rebellion, and by sending armies" hither to make war upon them, he really "abdicate.! gov- 
ernment," by thus declaring them "out of his protection." He sanctioned the acts of governors 111 
employing the Indians airain.st liis subjects [note 4, page 237], and hunself bargamed for the cm- 



QQQ SUPPLEMENT. 

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burned our towns, and 
destroyed the lives of our people.' 

He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to com- 
})lete the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circum- 
stances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, 
and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation.* 

He has constrained our fellow-citizens, taken captive on the high seas, to 
bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and 
brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands.^ 

He has excited domestic insurrection among us, and has endeavored to 
bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose 
known rule of warfare is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes, and 
conditions.* 

In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the 
most humble terms ; our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated 
injury. A prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may 
define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.^ 

Nor have we been wanting in our attentions to our British brethren." We 
have warned them, from time to time, of attempts by their legislature to extend 
an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circum- 
stances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their 

ployment of German liirelings. And when, yielding to the pressure of popular will, his representa- 
tives (the royal governors) fled before the indignant people, he certainly " abdicated government." 

' When naval commanders were clothed with the powers of custom-house officers and excise- 
men, they seized many American vessels; and after the affair at Lexington and Bunker Hill, Brit- 
ish ships of war " plundered our seas" whenever an American vessel could be found. They also 
"ravaged our coasts and burnt our towns." Charlestown [page 236], Falmouth (now Portland, in 
Maine), and Norfolk were burnt; and Dunmore and others [page 241] "ravaged our coasts" and 
"destroyed the lives of our people." And at the very time when this Declaration was being read 
to the assembled Congress [page 252], the shattered fleet of Sir Peter Parker was sailing north- 
ward [page 249], after an attack upon Charleston, South Carolina. 

^ This charge refers to the infamous employment of German troops, known here as Hessians. 
See page 246. 

^ An act of Parliament, passed toward the close of December, 1775, authorized the capture of 
all American vessels, and also directed the treatment of the crews of armed vessels to be as 
slaves, and not as prisoners of war. They were to be enrolled for the "service of his majesty," and 
were thus compelled to fight for the crown, even against their own friends and countrymen. This 
act was loudly condemned on the floor of Parliament, as unworthy of a Christian people, and " a 
refinement of cruelty unkno^vn among savage nations." 

* This was done in several instances. Dunmore was charged [note 4, page 237] with a design 
to employ the Indians against the Virginians, as early as 1774; and while ravaging the Virginia 
coast, in 1775 and 1776, he endeavored to excite the slaves against their masters. He was also 
concerned with Governor Gage and others, under instructions from the British ministry, in exciting 
the Shawnees, and other savages of the Ohio country, against the white people. Emissaries were 
also sent among the Cherokees and Creeks, for the same purpose, and all of the tribes of the Six 
Nations, except the Oneidas, were found in arms with the British when war began. Thus excited, 
dreadful massacres occurred on the borders of the several colonies. 

* For ten long years the colonies petitioned for redress of grievances, " in the most humble 
terms," and loyal manner. It was done by the Colonial Congress of 1765 [page 215], and also by 
the Continental Congresses of 1774 [page 228] and 1775 [page 238]. But their petitions were 
almost always " answered only by repeated injuries." 

* From the beginning, the colonists appealed, in the most affectionate terms, to "their British 
brethren." The first address put forth by the Congress of 1774 [note 6, page 228] was "To tho 
People of Great Britain; and the Congress of 1775 sent an affectionate appeal to the people of 
Ireland. 



THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, 



601 



native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our 
common kindred, to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably intci-- 
rupt our connections and correspondence. They, too, have been deaf to tho 
voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the 





\a-^i<^ 






necessity which denounces our separation, and hold them as we hold the rest 
of mankind — enemies in war — in peace, friends. 

We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in gen- 
eral Congress assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the 
rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name and by the authority of the good 
people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare that these united colonies 
are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States ; that they are ab- 
solved from all allegiance to the British crown, and that all political connection 
between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be. totally dis- 
solved, and that, as free and independent States, they have full power to levy 
war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and do all other 
acts and things which independent States may of right do. And for the sup- 
port of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Pron- 
dence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred 
honor. 



602 



THE DECLARATION" OF INDEPENDENCE. 



SIGNERS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 

The following is a list of the members of the Continental Congress, who signed 
the Declaration of Independence, with the places and dates of their birth, 
and the time of their respective deaths : 



KAME8 OS' THE BIGNEK8. 



Adams, John 
Adams, Samuel . 
Bartlett, Josiah 
Braxton, Carter . 
Carroll, Charles, of Car 
Chase, Samuel 
Clark, Abraham . 
Clymer, George . 
Ellery, William . 
Floyd, William . 
Franklin, Benjamin 
Gerry, Elbrid;iO . 
Gwiiinet, Burton . 
Hall, Lyman 
Hancock, John 
Harrison, Benjamin 
Hart, John 

Heyward, Thomas, jr. 
Hewes, Joseph 
Hooper, William . 
Hopkins, Stephen 
Hopkinson, Francis 
Huntingdon, Samuel 
Jefferson, Thomas 
Lee, Francis Lightfoot 
Lee, Richard Henry 
Lewis, Francis 
Livingston, Philip 
Lynch, Thomas, jr. 
M'Keon, Thomas 
Middleton, Arthur 
Morris, Lewis 
Morris, Robert 
Morton, John 
Nelson, Thomas, jr. 
Paca, William 
Paine, Robert Treat 
Penn, John . 
Read, George 
Rodney, Caesar 
Ross, George 
Rush, Benjamin, M.D. 
Rutledge, Edward 
Sherman, Roger . 
Smith, James 
Stockton, Richard 
Stone, Thomas 
Taylor, George 
Tliornton, Matthew 
Walton, Gt'oix'e . 
Whipple, AVilliam 
Williams, William 
Wilson, James 
Witherspoon, John 
Wolcott. Oliver . 
Wythe, George . 



ronton 



Braintree, Mass., 19th Oct., 17.35 
Boston, " 22d Sept., IT'22 

Amesbury, " in Nov., 1729 

Newington, Va., 10th Sept., 1736 
Annapolis, Md., 20th Sept., 17.37 
Somerset co., Md., 17th April, 1741 
Elizabetht'n, N. J., 15th Feb., 172G 
Philadelphia, Penn., in 1739 
Newport, R. I., 22d Doc, 1727 
Suffolk CO., N. Y., 17th Dec, 173-i 
Boston, Mass., 17th Jan., 1706 

Marblehead, Mass., 17th July, 1744 
England, in " 1732 

Connecticut, in 1731 

Braintree, Mass., in 1737 

Berkelv, Virijinia, ■ 

Hopewell, N. J., about 1715 
St. Luke s, S. C, in 1740 

Kingston, N. J.. in 17.30 

Boston, Mass., 17th June, 1742 
Scituate, " 7lh March, 1707 

Philadelphia, Penn., in 1737 

Windham, Conn., 3d Julv, 1732 
Shadwell, Va., 13th April, 1743 
Stratford, " 141h Oct., 1734 

Stratford, " 2iith Jan., 1732 

Landaff, Wales, in March, 1713 
Albany, N. Y., 15th Jan., 1716 
St. George's; S. C, 5th Aug., 1749 
Chester co., Pa., 19tli March, 17.34 
Middleton Place, S. C, in 1743 
Morrisania, N. Y., in 1726 

Lancashire, England, Jan., 1733 
Ridley, Penn., in 1724 

York, Virsrinia, 2Cth Dec, 178S 
Wye-Hill, Md., 31st Oct., 1740 
Boston, Mass., in 1731 

Caroline co., Va., 17th May, 1741 
Cecil CO., Maryland, in 1734 

Dover, Delaware, in 1730 

New Castle, Del., in 17.30 

Byperry, Penn., 24th Doc, 1745 
Charleston, S. C, in Nov., 1749 
Newton, Mass., 19th April, 1721 

Ireland, 

Princeton, N. J., 1st Oct., 1730 
Charles co., Md., in 1742 

Ireland, in 1716 

Ireland, in 1714 

Frederick co., Va., in 1740 

Kittery, Maine, in 1730 

Lebanon, Conn., 8th April, 1731 
Scotland, about 1742 

Ycster, Scotland, 5th Feb., 1722 
Windsor, Conn., 26th Nov., 1726 
Elizabeth city, Va., in 1726 



DELEGATE FKOM 



Massachusetts, 

Massachusetts, 

New Hampshire, 

Virginia, 

Maryland, 

Maryland, 

New Jersey, 

Pennsylvania, 

R. I. & Prov. PI., 

New York, 

Pennsylvania, 

Massachusetts, 

Georgia, 

Georgia, 

Massachusetts, 

Virginia, 

New Jersey, 

South Carolina, 

North Carolina, 

North Carolina, 

R. I. & Prov. PI., 

New Jersey, 

Connecticut, 

Virginia, 

Virginia, 

Virginia, 

New York, 

New York, 

South Carolina, 

Delaware, 

South Carolina, 

New York, 

Pennsylvania, 

Pennsylvania, 

Virginia, 

Maryland, 

Massachusetts, 

North Carolina, 

Delaware, 

Delaware, 

Pennsylvania, 

Pennsylvania, 

South Carolina, 

Connecticut, 

Pennsvlvania, 

New Jersey, 

M aryland. 

Pennsylvania, 

New Hampshire, 

Georgia, 

New Hampshire, 

Connecticut, 

Pennsylvania, 

New jersey, 

Connecticut, 

Virginia, 



4th July, 
2d Oct., 
19th May, 
10th Oct., 
14th Nov.. 
19th June, 

June, 

24th Jan., 
15th Feb., 
4th Aug., 
17th April, 
23d Nov., 
27th May, 

Feb., 

8th Oct., 
April, 

Mar., 

10th Nov., 

Oct.. 

19th July, 
9th May, 
5th Jan., 
4th July, 

■ April, 

19th June, 
80th Dec, 
12th June, 
lost at sea, 
24th June, 
1st Jan., 
22d Jan., 
8th May, 

April, 

4th Jan., 

11th May, 
. Sept., 



July, 

19th April, 
23d Jan., 
28d Julv, 
11th July, 
28th Feb., 
5th Oct., 
23d Feb., 
24th June, 
2d Feb., 
2Sth Nov., 
2d Aug., 
28th Aug., 
15th Nov., 
1st Dec, 
8th June, 



1826 
1803 
1795 
1797 
1832 
1811 
1794 
1813 
1820 
1821 
1790 
1814 
1777 
1790 
1793 
1791 
1780 
1809 
1779 
1790 
1785 
1790 
1796 
1826 
1797 
1794 
1803 
1778 
1779 
1817 
1787 
1798 
1806 
1777 
1789 
1799 
1814 
1788 
1798 
1783 
1779 
1818 
1800 
1793 
1806 
1781 
1787 
1781 
1803 
1804 
1785 
1811 
1798 
1794 
1797 
1806 



Among the signers of the Declaration of Independence, were men eng-^ged 
in almost every vocation. There were twenty-four lawyers ; fourteen fanners, 
or men devoted chiefly to agriculture ; nine merchants ; four jj/ii/sicians ; one 
gospel minister, and three who were educated for that profession, but chose 
other avocations ; and one mnnufactMrer. A Lirge portion of them lived to the 
age of three score and ten years. Three of them were over 90 years of age 
when they died ; ten over 80 : eleven over 70 ; fourteen over 60 ; eleven over 



THE DECLARATION OF I ND E T EXDEXC E. G03 

50 ; and six over 44. Mr. Lynch (lest at sea) Avas only 30. The an'(»re"'ate 
years of life of the fifty-six patriots, were 3.687 years. The last survivor of 
the signers of the Declaration of Independence, was Charles Carroll, of Car- 
rollton, who died on the 14th of November, 1832, when in the ninety-sixth 
year of his age.' 

In allusion to the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and their 
compeers, the Abbe Raynal wrote, in 1781, in his essay on The Revolution in 
Ainerica : " With what grandeur, with what enthusiasm, should I not speak of 
those generous men who erected this grand edifice by their patience, their wis- 
dom, and their courage! Hancock, Franklin, the two Adamses, were the 
greatest actors in this affecting scene ; but they were not the only ones. Pos- 
terity shall know them all. Their honored names shall be transmitted to it by 
a happier pen than mine. Brass and marble shall show them to remotest acres. 
In beholding them, shall the friend of freedom feel his heart palpitate with joy 
— feel his eyes float in delicious tears. Under the bust of one of them has been 
written, He avrested thunder from heavex axd the scepter from 
TYRANTS."^ Of the last words of this eulogy shall the whole of them partake.'' 

'• I ask," exclaimed Mirabeau, on the tribune of the National Assembly of 
France, Avhile descanting upon our Declaration — '• I ask if tlie powers who have 
formed alliances with the States have dared to read that manifesto, or to inter- 
rogate their consciences after the perusal ? I ask whether there be at this day 
one government in Europe — the Helvetic and Batavian confederations and the 
British isles excepted — which, judged after the principles of the Declaration of 
Congress, on the 4th of July, 1770, is not divested of its rights." And Napo- 
leon afterward, alluding to the same scene, said, "The finger of God was 
there!" 

' Charles Carroll was born at Annapolis, in Maryland, on the 20th of September, 1737. He 
was educated in France, and after an absence of twenty-two years, he returned, and found his 
countrymen in a state of high excitement on account of the Stamp Act. He espoused the cause 
of the people, and all through the ensuing struggles and the long war, he was a faithful and un- 
wavering patriot. He held a fluent pen, and was powerful in sjjeech. In his native State, and in 
the national council, he was always a leading advocate of popular rights. He was elected to the 
Continental Congress, too late to vote for independence, but in time to affix his signature to the 
Declaration. It has become a record of history, that Mr. Carroll, after signing liis name, was told 
that the British Government would not be able to identify him as the arch-traitor, because there 
were otlier Charles CarroUs in Maryland, and that he affixed "of Carrollton" to his name, with the 
remark, "Now, tliev can't make a mistake." Tliis is not true, for it was his common way of signing 
his name, lu a letter before the writer, sent to General Schuyler from Canada, by a committee of 
which Mr. Carroll was one, and which was written some time before tlie resolution conceriiing inde- 
pendence was introduced into Congress, his name has tlie suffix "of Carrollton." He retired from 
public life at the age of sixty-four years; and when, in 1826, Adams and Jetferson died, he alone, 
of all the signers, remained upon the earth. For portrait see page 

- This was written in Latin, as follows, by the celebrated Thurgot, Controller-General of the 
Finances of France: "Eripuit cwlofulmen sceptrumque iyrannisy It was the exergue of a medal, 
struck in Paris, iu honor of Dr. Franklin. 



VI. 
AKTICLES OF CONFEDERATION. 

As early as July, 1775, Doctor Franklin submitted to the consideration of 
Congress a sketch of articles of confederation between the colonies/ limiting the 
duration of their vitality to the time when reconciliation with Great Britain 
should take place ; or, in the event of the failure of that desirable result, to be 
perpetual. At that time, Congress seemed to have no fixed plans for the 
future — the teeming present, with all its vast and novel concerns, engrossed 
their whole attention — and Dr. Franklin's plan seems not to have been dis- 
cussed at all in the National Council. But when a Declaration of Independ- 
ence was proposed, that idea alone suggested the necessity of a confederation of 
the States to carry forward the work to a successful consummation. Congress, 
therefore, on the 11th of June, 1776, resolved that a committee should be 
appointed to prepare, and properly digest, a form of confederation to be entered 
into by the several States. The committee appointed under the resolution 
consisted of one delegate from each State.'* John Dickenson, of Pennsylvania, 
was chosen chairman, and through him the committee reported a draft of 
articles of confederation on the 12th of July. Almost daily debates upon the 
subject ensued until the 20th of August, when the report was laid aside, and 
was not taken up again for consideration until the 8th of April, 1777. In the 
mean while, several of the States had adopted Constitutions for their respective 
government, and Congress was practically acknowledged the supreme head in 
all matters appertaining to the Avar, public finances, etc. It emitted bills of 
credit, or paper money, appointed foreign ministers, and opened negotiations 
with foreign governments. 

From the 8th of April until the 15th of November following, the subject 
was debated two or three times a week, and several amendments were made. 
As the confederation might be a permanent bond of union, of course local inter- 
ests were considered prospectively. If the union had been designed to be tem- 
porary, to meet the exigences arising from the state of war in which the 
colonies then were, local questions could hardly have had weight enough to 
have elicited debate ; but such was not the case, and of course the sagacious 
men who were then in Congress looked beyond the present, and endeavored to 
legislate accordingly. From the 7th of October until the 15th of Novem- 
ber, the debates upon it Avere almost daily, and the conflicting interests of the 
several States were strongly brought into view by the diflerent speakers. On 

' Page 267. 

" The committee consisted of Messrs. Bartlett, Samuel Adams, Hopkins, Sherman, R. R. Liv- 
ingston, Dickenson, M'Kean, Stone, Nelson, Ilewes, Edward Rutlcdgc, and Gwinnett. 



ARTICLES OP CONFEDERATION. 605 

that day the following draft, containing all of the amendments, was laid before 
Congress, and after a spirited debate was adopted : 

Article 1. The style of this confederacy shall be, " Tlie United States of 
America." 

Article 2. Each State retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, 
and every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this confederation 
expressly delegated to the United States in Congress assembled. 

Article 3. The said States hereby severally enter into a firm league of 
friendship with each other for their common defense, the security of their liber- 
ties, and their mutual and general welfare ; binding themselves to assist each 
other against all force oifered to, or attacks made upon them, or any of them, 
on account of religion, sovereignty, trade, or any other pretense whatever. 

Article 4. The better to secure and perpetuate mutual friendship and 
intercourse among the people of the different States in this Union, the free 
inhabitants of each of these States, paupers, vagabonds, and fugitives from 
justice excepted, shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of free citi- 
zens in the several States ; and the people of each State shall have free ingress 
and regress to and from any other State, and shall enjoy therein all the privi- 
leges of trade and commerce, subject to the same duties, impositions, and 
restrictions, as the inhabitants thereof respectively, provided that mch restric- 
tions shall not extend so far as to prevent the removal of property imported 
into any State to any other State, of which the owner is an inhabitant ; pro- 
vided, also, that no imposition, duties, or restriction shall be laid by any State 
on the property of the United States, or cither of them. 

If any person guilty of or charged with treason, felony, or other high mis- 
demeanor, in any State, shall flee from justice, and be found in any of the 
United States, he shall upon demand of the Governor or executive poAver of the 
State from which he fled, be delivered up and removed to the State having 
jurisdiction of his offense. 

Full faith and credit shall bo given in each of these States to the records, 
acts, and judicial proceedings of the courts and magistrates of every other State. 

Article 5. For the more convenient management of the general interests 
of the United States, delegates shall be annually appointed in such manner as 
the Legislature of each State shall direct, to meet in Congress on the first 
Monday in November in every year, with a power reserved to each State to 
recall its delegates, or any of them, at any time within the year, and to send 
others in their stead for the remainder of the year. 

No State shall be represented in Congress by less than two, nor by more 
than seven members ; and no persan shall be capable of being a delegate for 
more than three years in any term of six years ; nor shall any person, being a 
delegate, be capable of holding any ofiice under the United States, for Avhich 
he, or another for his benefit, receives any salary, fees, or emoluments of any 
kind. 

Each State shall maintain its own delegates in a meeting of the States, and 
while they act as members of the committee of the States. 



g06 SUPPLEMENT. 

In determining questions in the United States, in Congress assembled, each 
State shall have one vote. 

Freedom of speech and debate in Congress shall not be impeached or ques- 
tioned in any court or place out of Congress ; and the members of Congress 
shall be protected in their persons from arrests and imprisonments, during the 
time of their going to and from and attendance on Congress, except for treason, 
felony, or breach of the peace. 

Article 6. No State, without the consent of the United States, in Con- 
gress assembled, shall send any embassy to, or receive any embassy from, or 
enter into any conference, agreement, alliance, or treaty, with any king, prince, 
or State ; nor shall any person holding any office of profit or trust under the 
United States, or any of them, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title 
of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign State ; nor shall the 
United States in Congress assembled, or any of them, grant any title of nobility. 

No two or more States shall enter into any treaty, confederation, or alliance 
whatever between them, without the consent of the United States, in Congress 
assembled, specifying accurately the purposes for which the same is to be 
entered into and how long it shall continue. 

No State shall lay any imposts or duties which may interfere with any 
stipulations -in treaties entered into by the United States, in Congress assembled, 
with any king, prince, or State, in pursuance of any treaties already proposed 
by Congress to the courts of France and Spain. 

No vessel of war shall be kept up in time of peace by any State, except 
such number only as shall be deemed necessary by the United States, in Con- 
gress assembled, for the defense of such State or its trade ; nor shall any body 
of forces be kept up by any State in time of peace, except such number only as 
in the judgment of the United States, in Congress assembled, shall be deemed 
requisite to garrison the forts necessary for the defense of such State ; but every 
State shall always keep up a well-regulated and disciplined militia, sufficiently 
armed and accoutered, and shall provide and have constantly ready for use, in 
public stores, a due number of field-pieces and tents, and a proper quantity of 
arms, ammunition, and camp equipage. 

No State shall engage in any war without the consent of the United States 
in Congress assembled, unless such State be actually invaded by enemies, or 
shall have received certain advice of a resolution being formed by some nation 
of Indians to invade such State, and the danger is so imminent as not to admit 
of a delay till the United States, in Congress assembled, can be consulted ; nor 
shall any State grant commissions to any ships or vessels of war, nor letters of 
marque or reprisal, except it be after a declaration of war by the United States, 
in Congress assembled, and then only against the kingdom or State, and the 
subjects thereof, against which war has been so declared, and under such regu- 
lations as shall be established by the United States, in Congress assembled, 
unless such State be infested by pirates, in which case, vessels of war may be 
fitted out for that occasion, and kept so long as the danger shall continue, or 
until the United States, in Congress assembled, shall determine otherwise. 



ARTICLES OF C ONFEDER ATIOiT. (307 

Article 7. When land forces are raised by any State for the common 
defense, all officers of or under the rank of Colonel shall be appointed by the 
Legislature of each State respectively by whom such forces shall be raised, or 
in such manner as such State shall direct, and all vacancies shall be filled up 
by the State which first made the appointment. 

Article 8. All charges of war, and all other expenses that shall be incurred 
for the common defense or general welfare, and allowed by the United States 
in Congress assembled, shall be defrayed out of a common treasury, which shall 
be supplied by the several States in proportion to the value of all land Avithin 
each State granted to or surveyed for any person, as such land and the buildings 
and improvements thereon shall be estimated, according to such mode as the 
United States, in Congress assembled, shall from time to time direct and 
appoint. 

The taxes for paying that proportion shall be laid and levied by the author- 
ity and direction of the Legislatures of the several States, within the time 
agreed upon by the United States, in Congress assembled. 

Article 9. The United States, in Congress assembled, shall have the sole 
and exclusive right and power of determining on peace and war, except in the 
cases mentioned in the sixth article ; of sending and receiving embassadors ; 
entering into treaties and alliances — provided that no treaty of commerce shall 
be made whereby the legislative power of the respective States shall be 
restrained from imposing such imposts and duties on foreigners as their own 
people are subjected to, or from prohibiting exportation or importation of any 
species of goods or commodities whatsoever ; of establishing rules for deciding 
in all cases what captures on land or water shall be legal, and in what manner 
prizes taken by land or naval forces in the service of the United States, shall be 
divided or appropriated ; of granting letters of marque and reprisal in times of 
peace ; appointing courts for the trial of piracies and felonies committed on the 
high seas, and establishing courts for receiving and determining finally appeals 
in all cases of captures ; provided that no member of Congress shall be appointed 
a judge of any of the said courts. 

The United States, in Congress assembled, shall also be the last resort, on 
appeal, in all disputes and differences now subsisting, or that hereafter may 
arise between two or more States concerning boundary, jurisdiction, or any 
other cause whatever ; which authority shall always be exercised in the manner 
following : whenever the legislative or executive authority or lawful agent of 
any State in controversy with another shall present a petition to Congress, 
stating the matter in question, and praying for a hearing, notice thereof shall 
be given by order of Congress to tlie legislative or executive authority of the 
other State in controversy, and a day assigned for the appearance of the parties, 
by their lawful agents, who shall then be directed to appoint, by joint consent, 
commissioners or judges to constitute a court for hearing and determining the 
matter in question ; but if they can not agree, Congress shall name three per- 
sons out of each of the United States, and from the list of such persons each 
party shall alternately strike out one, the petitioners beginning, until the num- 



608 SUPPLEMENT. 

ber shall be reduced to thirteen ; and from that number not less than seven, 
nor more than nine names, as Congress shall direct, shall, in the presence of 
Congress, be drawn out by lot ; and the persons whose names shall be so drawn, 
or any five of them, shall be commissioners or judges, to hear and finally deter- 
mine the controversy, so always as a major part of the judges, who shall hear 
the cause, shall agree in the determination ; and if either party shall neglect to 
attend at the day appointed, without showing reasons which Congress shall 
judge sufiicient, or, being present, shall refuse to strike, the Congress shall 
proceed to nominate three persons out of each State, and the Secretary of Con- 
gress shall strike in behalf of such person absent or refusing ; and the judgment 
and sentence of the court, to be appointed in the manner before prescribed, shall 
be final and conclusive ; and if any of the parties shall refuse to submit to the 
authority of such court, or to appear, or defend their claim or cause, the court 
shall nevertheless proceed to pronounce sentence or judgment, which shall in 
like manner be final and decisive — the judgment or sentence and other proceed- 
ings being in either case transmitted to Congress, and lodged among the acts 
of Congress for the security of the parties concerned ; provided that every 
commissioner, before he sits in judgment, shall take an oath, to be administered 
by one of the judges of the Supreme or Superior Court of the State, where the 
cause shall be tried, ' ' well and truly to hear and determine the matter in ques- 
tion, according to the best of his judgment, without favor, afiection, or hope of 
reward;" provided, also, that no State shall be deprived of territory for the 
benefit of the United States. 

All controversies concerning the private right of soil, claimed under difierent 
grants of two or more States, whose jurisdiction as they may respect such lands, 
and the States which passed such grants are adjusted, the said grants or either 
of them being at the same time claimed to have originated antecedent to such 
settlement of jurisdiction, shall, on the petition of either party to the Congress 
of the United States, be finally determined, as near as may be, in the same 
manner as is before prescribed for deciding disputes respecting territorial juris- 
diction between dijBTerent States. 

The United States, in Congress assembled, shall also have the sole and 
exclusive right and power of regulating the alloy and value of coin struck by 
their own authority or by that of the respective States ; fixing the standard of 
weights and measures throughout the United States ; regulating the trade and 
managing all affairs with the Indians not members of any of the States — pro- 
vided that the legislative right of any State within its own limits be not 
infringed or violated ; establishing and regulating post-offices from one State to 
another throughout all the United States, and exacting such postage on the 
papers passing through the same as may be requisite to defray the expenses of 
the said office ; appointing all officers of the land forces in the service of the 
United States, excepting regimental officers ; appointing all the officers of the 
naval forces, and commissioning all officers whatever in the service of the 
United States ; making rules for the government and regulation of the said 
land and naval forces, and directing their operations. 



ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION. 6O9 

The United States, in Congress assembled, shall have authority to appoint 
a committee to sit in the recess of Congress, to be denominated "a Committee 
of the States," and to consist of one delegate from each State; and to appoint 
such other committees and civil officers as may be necessary for manao'ino- the 
general affairs of the United States under their direction ; to appoint one of 
their number to preside, provided that no person be allowed to serve in the 
office of president more than one year in any term of three years ; to ascertain 
the necessary sums of money to be raised for the service of the United States 
and to appropriate and apply the same for defraying the public expenses • to 
borrow money or emit bills on the credit of the United States — transmitting 
every half year to the respective States an account of the sums of money so 
borrowed or emitted ; to build and equip a navy ; to agree upon the number of 
land forces, and to make requisitions from each State for its quota, in propor- 
tion to the number of white inhabitants in such State, which requisition shall 
be binding, and thereupon the Legislature of each State shall appoint the regi- 
mental officers, raise the men, and clothe, arm, and equip them, in a soldier- 
like manner, at the expense of the United States ; and the officers and men so 
clothed, armed, and equipped, shall march to the place appointed, and within 
the time agreed on by the United States, in Congress assembled ; but if the 
United States, in Congress assembled, shall, on consideration of circumstances, 
judge proper that any State should not raise men, or should raise a smaller 
num]>er than its quota, or that any other State should raise a greater number 
of men than the quota thereof, such extra number shall be raised, officered, 
clothed, armed, and equipped, in the same manner as the quota of such State, 
unless the Legislature of such State shall judge that such extra number can not 
be safely spared out of the same ; in which case they shall raise, officer, clothe, 
arm, and equip, as many of such extra number as they judge can be safely 
spared. And the officers and men so clothed, armed, and equipped, shall march 
to the place appointed, and within the time agreed on by the United States, in 
Congress assembled. 

The United States, in Congress assembled, shall never engage in a war, nor 
grant letters of mar(j[ue and reprisal in time of peace, nor enter into any treaties 
or alliances, nor coin money, nor regulate the value thereof, nor ascertain the 
sums and expenses necessary for the defense and welfare of the United States, 
or any of them, nor emit bills, nor borrow^ money on the credit of the United 
States, nor appropriate money, nor agree upon the number of vessels of war to 
be built or purchased, or the number of land or sea forces to be raised, nor 
appoint a commander-in-chief of the army or navy, unless nine States assent to 
the same ; nor shall a question on any other point, except for adjourning from 
day to day, be determined unless by the votes of a majority of the L'nited States, 
in Congress assembled. 

The Congress of the United States shall have power to adjourn to any time 
within the year, and to any place within the United States, so that no period 
of adjournment be for a longer duration than the space of six months; and 
shall publish the journal of their proceedings monthly, except such parts 

39 



610 SUPPLEMENT. 

thereof relating to treaties, alliances, or military operations, as in their judg- 
ment refjuire secresj ; and the yeas and nays of the delegates of each State on 
any question, shall be entered on the journal when it is desired by any delegate ; 
and the delegates of a State or any of them, at his or their request, shall be 
furnished with a transcript of the said journal, except such parts as are above 
excepted, to lay before the Legislatures of the several States. 

Article 10. The committee of the States, or any nine of them, shall be 
authorized to execute, in the recess of Congress, such of the powers of Congress 
as the United States, in Congress assembled, by the consent of nine States, 
shall from time to time think expedient to vest them with ; provided that no 
power be delegated to the said committee, for the exercise of which, by the 
articles of confederation, the voice of nine States, in the Congress of the United 
States assembled, is requisite. 

Article 11. Canada, acceding to this confederation, and joining in the 
measures of the United States, shall be admitted into, and entitled to, all the 
advantages of this union ; but no other colony shall be admitted into the same, 
unless such admission be agreed to by nine States. 

Article 12. All bills of credit emitted, moneys borrowed, and debts con- 
tracted, by or under the authority of Congress, before the assembling of the 
United States, in pursuance of the present confederation, shall be deemed and 
considered as a charge against the United States, for payment and satisfaction 
whereof the said United States and the public faith are hereby solemnly pledged. 

Article 13. Every State shall abide by the decision of the United States, 
in Congress assembled, on all questions which, by this confederation, are sub- 
mitted to them. And the articles of this confederation shall be inviolably 
observed by every State, and the Union shall be perpetual ; nor shall any 
alteration at any time hereafter be made in any of them, unless such alteration 
be agreed to in a Congress of the United States, and be afterward confirmed by 
the Legislature of every State. 

Congress directed these Articles to be submitted to the Leo-islatures of the 
several States, and, if approved of by them, they were advised to authorize 
their delegates to ratify the same in Congress, by affixing their names thereto. 

Notwithstanding there was a general feeling that something must be speedily 
done, the State Legislatures were slow to adopt the articles. In the first place, 
they did not seem to accord with the prevailing sentiments of the people, as set 
forth in the Declaration of Independence ; and in many things that Declaration 
and the Articles of Confederation were manifestly at variance. The former 
was based upon declared right ; the foundation of the latter was asserted ponwr. 
The former was based upon a superintending Providence, and the inalienable 
rights of man ; the latter resting upon the " sovereignty of declared power ; one 
ascending from the foundation of human government, to the laws of nature and 
of nature's God, written upon the heart of man; the other resting upon the 
basis of human institutions, and prescriptive law, and colonial charters."* 
Again, the system of representation proposed was highly objectionable, because 

' John Quincy Adams's Jubilee Discourse, 1839. 



ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION. QJI 

each State was entitled to the same voice in Congress, whatever might be the 
difference in population. But the most objectionable feature of all was, that 
the limits of the several States, and also in whom was vested the control or 
possession of the crown-lands, was not only unadjusted, but wholly unnoticed. 
These and other defects caused most of the States to hesitate, at first, to adopt 
the Articles, and several of them for a long time utterly refused to accept them. 

On the 22d of June, 1778, Congress proceeded to consider the objections 
of the States to the Articles of Confederation, and on the 27th of the same 
month, a form of ratification was adopted and ordered to be engrossed upon 
parchment, with a view that the same should be signed by such delegates as 
were instructed so to do by their respective Legislatures. 

On the 9th of July, the delegates of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, 
Rhode Island. Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and South 
Carolina signed the Articles. The delegates from New Jersey, Delaware, and 
Maryland were not yet empowered to ratify and sign. Georgia and North 
Carolina were not represented, and the ratification of New York Avas con- 
ditioned that all the other States should ratify. The delegates from North 
Carolina signed the articles on the 21st of July ; those of Georgia on the 24th 
of the same month ; those of New Jersey, on the 26th of November ; and those 
of Delaware, on the 22d of February and fifth of May, 1770. Maryland still 
firmly refused to ratify, until the question of the conflicting claims of the Union 
and of the separate States to the crown-lands should be fully adjusted. This 
point Avas finally settled by cessions of claiming States to the United States, of 
Jill unsettled and unappropriated lands for the benefit of the whole Union. 
This cession of the crown-lands to the Union originated the Territorial System, 
and the erection of the North-western Territory into a distinct government, 
similar to the existing States, having a local Legislature of its OAvn. The insu- 
perable objection of Maryland having been removed by the settlement of this 
question, her delegates signed the Articles of Confederation on the 1st day of 
March, 1781, four years and four months after they were adopted by Congress.' 
By this act of Maryland, they became the organic law of the Union, and on the 
2d of March Congress assembled under the new powers. 

' The following are the names of the delegates from the several States appended to the Articles 
of Confederation : 

New Hampshire, Josiah Bartlctt, .John Wentworth, Jr. 

Massachusdts Bay, John Hancock, Samuel Adams, P^lbridge Gerrj, Francis Dana, James Lovell, 
Samuel Holten. 

Rhode Island, William Ellery, Henry ifarchant, John Collins. 

Connecticut, Roger Sherman, Sanmel Huntington, Oliver Wolcott, Titus Hosmer, Andrew Adams. 

New York, James Duane, Francis Lewis, William Duer, Gouverneur Morris. 

New Jersey, John Witherspoon, Nathaniel Scudder. 

Pennsylvania, Robert Morris, Daniel Roberdeau, Jonathan Bayard Smitli, William ClingaL. 
Joseph Reed. 

Delaware, Thomas M'Kean. John Dickenson, Nicholas Van Dyke. 

Maryland, John Hanson, Daniel Carroll. 

Virginia, Richard Henry Lee, John Banister, Thomas Adams, John Harvie, Francis Lightfoot Lee . 

North Carolina, .John Penn, Cornelius Harnett, Jolm Williams. 

South Carolina. Henry Laurens, William Henry Drayton, Jonathan Matthews, Richard Hutaon, 
Thomas Heyward, .Tr. 

Georgia, John Walton, Edward Telfair, Edward Langworthy. 



VII, 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES.' 




Objects. -yYj, ^Ijq People of the United States, in order to form a more 

perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquil- 
ity, provide for the common defence, promote the general 
AVelfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves 
and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution 
for the United States of America. 



ARTICLE I. 

Legislative Powers. SECTION 1. All legislative powcrs herein granted shall be 

vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist 
of a Senate and House of Representatives. 



■ In 1853, the writer made a very careful copy of the Constitution of the United States, from the 
original in the State Department at Washington city, together with the autographs of the members 
of the Convention who signed it. In orthography, capital letters, and punctuation, the copy here 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 



613 



IIousc of Represent- 
atives. 



resentatives. 



resentatives. 



Section 2. The House of Representatives shall be com- 
posed of Members chosen every second Year by the People 
of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have 
the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous 
Branch of the State Legislature. 

No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have Quauncauons of itrp- 
attained to the age of twenty-five Years, and been seven Years 
a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, 
be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen. 

Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned Apportionment of Rep- 
among the several States which may be included Avithin this 
Union, according to their respective Numbers, ' which shall be 
determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, 
including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and ex- 
cluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons." 
The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years 
after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, 
and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such ]Man- 
ner as they shall by Law direct. The Number of Represent- 
atives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand;' but 
each State shall have at Least one Representative ; and until 
such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire 
shall be entitled to choose three, Massachusetts eight, Rhod-e 
Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New 
York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware 
one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five. South 
Carolina five, and Georgia three. 



given may be relied upon as correct, it having been subsequently carefully compared with a copy 
published by Mr. Hickey, in his useful little volume, entitled The Constitution of the United States 
of America, etc., and attested, on the 20th of Juh^, 1846, by Nicholas P. Trist, chief clerk of the 
State Department. Most of the notes are from the National Calendar, a work published in 1828, 
by Peter Force, of Washington city, and carefully prepared by him. Tlie most prominent Amer- 
ican writers upon constitutional law, are the late Justice Story and Chancellor Kent. Joseph Story 
was bom at Marblehead, Massachusetts, in September, 1779, and was educated at Harvard Uni- 
versity. He studied law ; and soon, on entering upon his practice, took a prominent position. He 
was a member of his State Legislature, and of the Federal Congress, and was chiefly instrumental 
in effecting the repeal of the Embargo Act [page 403]. Ho was only thirty-two years of age when 
President Madison made him an associate of the Supreme Court of the United States. From that 
time he discarded politics. In commercial and constitutional law ho was peerless. His Contment- 
ariesonthe Constitution of the United States, published in three volumes, in IS.'^S, will ever be a 
standard work. Judge Story died at Cambridge, Massachusetts, in September, 1845, at the age of 
sixty-six years. His own words, applied to another, may be appropriately said of him : " Whatever 
subject he touched was touched with a master's hand and spirit. He employed his eloquence to 
adorn his learning, and his learning to give solid weight to his eloquence. Be was always instruct- 
ive and interesting, and rarely without producing an instantaneous conviction. A lofty ambition 
of excellence, that stirring spirit which breathes the breath of Heaven, and pants for immortality, 
sustained his genius in its pcrOous course." 

' The constitutional provision, that direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several States, 
according to their respective numbers, to be ascertained by a census, was not intended to restrict 
the power of imposing direct taxes to States only.— ioMj/i&oroMsr/i vs. J5to/re, 5 Wheaton, 319. 

' Slaves. Every live slaves are accounted three persons, in making the apportionment. 

' See laws United States, vol. ii., chap. 124; iii., 261; iv., 332. Acts of 17th Congress. 1st 
session, chap. x. ; end of the 22d and 27th Congress. 



614 



SUPPLEMENT. 



Vacancies how filled. 



Speaker, how ap- 
pointed. 



Number of Senators 
from each State. 



Classification of Sen- 
ators. 



Qualification of Sen- 
ators. 



Presiding officer of the 
Senate. 



Senate a court for 
trial of impeachments. 



Judgment in case of 
conviction. 



When vacancies happen in the Representation from any- 
State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of 
Election to fill such Vacancies. 

The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker 
and other Ofiicers ; and shall have the sole Power of Impeach- 
ment. 

Section 3. The Senate of the United States shall be com- 
posed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legisla- 
ture thereof, for six Years ; and each Senator shall have one 
Vote.' 

Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence 
of the first Election, they sh-iil be divided as equally as may 
be into three Classes. The Seats of the Senators of the first 
Class shall be vacated at the Expiration of the second Year, 
of the second Class at the Expiration of the fourth Year, and 
of the third Class at the Expiration of the sixth Year, so that 
one third may be chosen every second year ; and if Vacancies 
happen by Resignation, or otherwise, during the Recess of the 
Legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make 
temporary Appointments until the next Meeting of the Legis- 
lature, which shall then fill such Vacancies. 

No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained 
to the age of thirty Y^ears, and been nine Years a Citizen of 
the United States, and who shall not, v/lien elected, be an 
Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen. 

The Vice-President of the United States shall be Presi- 
dent of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be 
equally divided. 

The Senate shall choose their other OflBcers, and also a 
President pro tempore, in the absence of the Vice-President, 
or when he shall exercise the Office of President of the United 
States. 

The Senate shall have full power to try all impeachments : 
When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath, or 
Affirmation. When the President of the United States is 
tried, the Chief Justice shall preside : and no Person shall be 
convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the INIem- 
bers present. 

Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further 
than to removal from Office, and Disqualification to hold and 
enjoy any Office of Honor, Trust, or Profit under the United 
States : but the party convicted shall nevertheless be liable 
and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment, and Punishment, 
according to Law. 



See art. v., clause 1. 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 



615 



Section 4. The Times, Places, and Manner of holding 
Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed 
in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Conf^ress 
may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, ex- 
cept as to the places of chusing Senators. 

The Congress shall assemble at least once in every Year, 
and such meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, 
unless they shall by Law appoint a different day. 

Section 5. Each House shall be the Judge of the Elec- 
tions, Returns, and Qualifications of its own Members, and a 
Majority of each shall constitute a Quorum to do Business ; 
but a smaller Number may adjourn from day to day, and may 
be authorized to compel the Attendance of absent Members, 
in such Manner, and under such Penalties as each House may 
provide. 

Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, ' 
punish its Members for disorderly Behaviour, and, with the 
Concurrence of two thirds, expel a jNIember. 

Each House shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and 
from time to time publish the same, excepting such Parts as 
may in their Judgment require Secresy ; and the Yeas and 
Nays of the Members of either House on any question shall, 
at the Desire of one fifth of those Present, be entered on the 
Journal. 

Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, with- 
out the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three 
days, nor to any other Place than that in which the two 
Houses shall be sitting. 

Section 6. The Senators and Representatives shall receive 
a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, 
and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. They 
shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony, and Breach of the 
Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at 



Elections of Senator* 
and Kepresentativcs. 



Meeting of Congress. 



Organization of Con- 
gress. 



Eules of proceeding. 



Journal of Congress. 



Adjournment of Con 
gress. 



Compensation and 
privileges of members. 



' To an action of trespass against the sergeant-at-arras of the House of Representatives of the 
United States, for assault and batteiy and false imprisonment, it is a legal justification and bar to 
plead that a Congress was held and sitting during the period of the trespasses complained, and that 
the House of Representatives had resolved that the plaintiff had been guilty of a breach of the priv- 
ileges of the House, and of a high contempt of tlio dignity and authority of the same ; and had or- 
dered that the Speaker should issue his warrant to the s"crgeant-at-arms, commanding him to take 
the plaintiff into custody wherever to be found, and to have him before the said House to answer 
to the said charge; and that the Speaker did accordingly issue such a warrant, reciting the said 
resolution and order, and commanding the sergeant-at-arms to take the plaintiff into custody, etc., 
and deliver the said warrant to the defendant : by virtue of which warrant the defendant arrested 
the plaintiff, and conveyed him to the bar of the House, where ho was heard in liis defense touch- 
ing the matter of said charge, and the examination being adjourned from day to day, and the House 
having ordered the plaintiff to be detained in cu.stody, he was accordingly detained by the defend- 
ant until he was fmallv adjudged to be guilty and convicted of the charge aforesaid, and ordered to 
be forthwith brought to the bar and reprimanded by the Speaker, and then discharged from cus- 
tody, and after being thus reprimanded, was actually discharged from the arrest and custody afore- 
said. — Anderson vs. Dunn, 6 Wlieaton, 204. 



616 



SUPPLEMENT. 



Plurality of offices pro- 
hibited. 



Bills, how originated. 



How bills become laws. 



the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and 
returning from the same ; and for any Speech or Debate in 
either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place. 

No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for 
which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under 
the Authority of the United States, which shall have been 
created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been increased 
during such time ; and no Person holding any office under 
the United States, shall be a Member of either House during 
his Continuance in office. 

Section 7. All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate 
in the House of Representatives ; but the Senate may propose 
or concur with Amendments as on other Bills. 

Every Bill which shall have passed the house of Repre- 
sentatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be 
presented to the President of the United States : if he approve 
he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objec- 
tions, to that House in which it shall have originated, who 
shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and pro- 
ceed to reconsider it. If, after such Reconsideration, two 
thirds of that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be 
sent, together with the Objections, to the other House, by 
■which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by 
two thirds of that House, it shall become a Law. But in 
all such Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be determined by 
Yeas and Nays, and the Names of the Persons voting for and 
against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House 
respectively. If any Bill shall not be returned by the Pres- 
ident within ten Days (Sunday excepted) after it shall have 
been presented to him, the Same shall be a Law, in like Man- 
ner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their Ad- 
journment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall not be 
a Law. 

Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concur- 
rence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be ne- 
cessary (except on a question of adjournment), shall be pre- 
sented to the President of the United States ; and before the 
Same shall take Effiict, shall be approved by him, or being 
disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two thirds of the 
Senate and House of Representatives, according to the Rules 
and Limitations prescribed in the Case of a Bill. 
Section 8. The Cons-ress shall have Power 
To lay and collect Taxes,' Duties, Imposts, and Excises; 

' The power of Congress to lay and colled taxes, duties, &c., extends to the District of Columbia^ 
and to the Territories of the United States, as Avell as to the States. — Loughborough vs. Blake, 5 



Approval and veto 
powers of President. 



Powers vested in Con- 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 617 

to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defense and Powers vested in Con- 
general Welfare of the United States ; but all Duties, Imposts, ^'^''^' 

and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States • 

To borroAV Money on the credit of the United States ; 

To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among 
the several States, and with the Indian tribes ; 

To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization,' and uni- 
form Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies' throughout the 
United States ; 

To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign 
Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures ; 

To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Secu- 
rities and current Coin of the United States ; 

To establish Post Offices and Post Roads ; 

To promote the progress of Science and useful Arts, by 
securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclu- 
sive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries :* 

To constitute Tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court ; 

To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on 
the high Seas, and Offenses against the Law of Nations f 

To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, 
and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water ; 

To raise and support Armies; but no Appropriation of 
Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two 
Years ; 

To provide and maintain a Navy ; 

To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the 
'Land and Naval Forces ; 

Wheaion, 318. But Congress are not bound to extend a direct tax to the District and Territories. 
—Id., 318. 

' Under the Constitution of the United vStates, the power of naturalization is exclusively in 
Congress. — Chivac ys. Chivac, 2 Wheafon, 259. 

See Laws United States, vol. ii., chap. 30; ii., 261 ; iii., "71 ; ill., 288; iii., 400; iv., 564; vi., 
32. 

^ Since the adoption of the Constitution of the United States, a State has authority to pass a 
bankrupt law, provided sucli law does not impair the obhgation of contracts within the metming of 
the Constitution (art. i., sect. 10), and provided there be no act of Congress in force to establish a 
uniform system of bankruptcy conflicting with such law. — Sturgess vs. Crouminshield, 4 Wheaton, 
122, 192. 

See Laws United States, vol. ii., chap. 368, sect. 2 ; iii., 06 ; iii., 158. 

* The first copyright law was enacted in 1790, on the petition of Dr. David Ramsay, the histo- 
rian, and others. See note 1, page 312. 

* The act of the 3d March, 1819, chap. 16, sect. 5, referring to the law of nations for a definition 
of the crime of piracy, is a constitutional exercise of the power of Congress to define and punisli 
that crime. — United' Staks vs. Sjnith, 5 Wheaton, 153, 157. 

Congress have power to provide for the punishment of offenses committed by persons on board 
a ship-of-war of the United States, wherever that ship may lie. But Congress have not exercised 
that power in the case of a ship lying in the waters of the United States — the words, within fort, 
arsenal, dockyard, maijazine, or in any other place or diatrid of country under the sole and exclusive 
jurisdiction of the United States, in the third section of the act of 1790, chap. 9, not extending to a 
ship-of-war, but only to objects in their nature, fixed and territorial.— fT/uted States vs. Bevans, 3 
Wheaion, 890. 



618 SUPPLEMENT. 

Powers vested in Con- To provide foi* Calling forth tlic Militia to execute the 
^^^ ' Laws of the Union, supjjress Insurrections, and repel Inva- 

sions ; 

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the 
Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be em- 
ployed in the Service of the United States — reserving to the 
States respectively, the Appointment of the OflBcers, and the 
Authority of training the Militia according to the Discipline 
prescribed by Congress ;' 

To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, 
over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, 
by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Con- 
gress, become the Seat of the Government of the United 
States," and to exercise like Authority over all Places pur- 
chased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which 
the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, 
Arsenals, Dockyards, and other needful Buildings ; — And 

To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for 
carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other 
Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the 
United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.^ 



' Tide amendments, art. ii. 

* Congress has authoritv to impose a direct tax on the District of Columbia, in proportion to 
the census directed to be taken by tiae Constitution. — Loughborough vs. Blake, 5 Wheaion, 317. 

But Congress are not bound to extend a direct tax to tiie District and Territories. — Id., 322. 

Tlie power of Congress to exercise exclusive jurisdiction in aU cases whatsoever, within tho 
District of Columbia, includes the power of taxing it. — Id., 324. 

^ Whenever the terms in whicli a power is granted by the Constitution to Congress, or when- 
ever the nature of the power itself requires that it should be exercised exclusively by Congress, the ' 
subject is as completely taken away from the State Legislatures as if they had been expressly for- 
bidden to act on it. — Slurgess vs. Crouminshield, 4 Whmton, 193. 

Congress has power to incorporate a bank. — MCuUoch vs. State of Maryland, 4 Wheaion, 316. 

The power of establishing a corporation is not a distinct sovereign power or end of government, 
but only the means of carrying into effect other powers which are sovereign. Whenever it becomes 
an appropriate means of exercising any of the powers expressly given by the Constitution to the 
government of the Union, it may bo exercised by that government. — Id., 411, 421. 

If a certain means to carry into cflect any of tlie powers expressly given by the Constitution to 
the government of the Union, be an appropriate measure, not prohibited by the Constitution, the 
degree of its necessity is a question of legislative discretion, not of judicial cognizance. — Id., 421. 

The act of the 19th AprD, 1816, chap. 44, to incorporate the subscribers to the bank of the 
United States, is a law made in pursuance of the Constitution. — Id., 424. 

The bank of the United States has constitutionally a right to establish its branches or offices of 
discount and deposit within any State. — /(/.. 424. 

There is nothing in the Constitution of the L^nited States similar to the Articles of Confederation, 
which excludes incidental or implied powers. — Id., 403. 

If the end be legitimate, and within the scope of the Constitution, all the to? a?is wliich are appro- 
priate, which are plainly adapted to that end, and which are not prohibited, may constitutionally be 
employed to carry it into effect. — Id., 421. 

The powers granted to Congress are not exclusive of similar powers existing in the States, 
unless where the Constitution has expressly, in terms, given an exclusive power to Congress, or 
the exercise of a Uke power is prohibited to the States, or there is a direct repugnancy or incom- 
patibility in the exercise of it by the States. — Houston vs. Monre, 5 Wheaton. 49. 

The example of the first class is to be found in the exclusive legislation delegated to Congress 
over places purchased by the consent of the Legislature of the State in which the same shall be, 
fjr forts, arsenals, dockyards, &c. Of the second class, the prohibition of a State to coin money or 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 61') 

Section 9. The Migration or Importation of such Per- immiarrants. how ad- 
sons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to 
admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the 
Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a Tax or Duty 
may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dol- 
lars for each Person.' 

The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus' shall not be Haboaa corpus, 
suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the 
public Safety may require it. 

No Bill of Attainder or ex post Facto law shall be passed.' Attainder. 

No Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in Taxes. 
Proportion to the Census or Enumeration herein before 
directed to be taken. 

No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from 
any State. 

No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Com- Regulations regarding 
merce or Revenue to the Ports of one State over those of 
another ; nor shall Vessels bound to, or from, one State, be 
obliged to enter, clear, or pay Duties in another. 

No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Con- Money, how drawn, 
sequence of Appropriations made by law; and a regular 
Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of 
all public Money shall be published from time to time. 

No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United Titles of nobiuty pro- 
States : And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust 
under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, 
accept of any Present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any 
kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or Foreign State.* 

emit bills of credit. Of the third class, the power to establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and 
the delegation of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction. — Id., 49. 

In all other classes of cases, the States retain concurrent authority with Congress. — Id., 48. 

But in cases of concurrent authority, where the laws of the States and of the Union are in 
direct and manifest collision on the same subject, those of the Union being the supreme law of the 
land, are of paramount authority, and the State so far, and so far only as such incompatibility exists, 
must necessarily yield. — Id., 49. 

The State within which a branch of the United States bank may bo established, can not, with- 
out violating the Constitution, tax that branch. — ilCidloch vs. Statti of Maryland, 4 Wheaton, 425. 

The State governments have no right to tax any constitutional means employed by the govern- 
ment of the Union to execute its constitutional powers. — Id., 427. 

The States have no power by taxation, or otherwise, to retard, impede, burden, or in any man- 
ner control, the operation of the constitutional laws enacted by Congress, to carry into effect the 
powers vested in the national government. — Id., 436. 

This principle does not extend to a tax paid by the real property of the bank of the United 
States, in common with tlio other real property in a particular State, nor to a tax imposed on tho 
proprietary which the citizens of that State may hold in common with the other property of the 
same description throughout the State. — Id., A?A\. 

^ This was a provision for the gradual extinction of the slave-trade, carried on between Africa 
and the United States. 

" A writ for delivering a person from false imprisonment, or for removing a person from one 
court to another. 

^ Declaring an act penal or criminal which was innocent when committed. Attainder is a 
deprivation of power to inherit or transmit property, a loss of civil rights, &c. 

* Note 1, page 2G7. 



620 SUPPLEMENT, 

Towers of State de- SECTION 10. No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alli- 

ance, or Confederation ; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal ; 
coin Money ; emit Bills of Credit ; make any Thing but gold 
and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts : pass any Bill 
of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obli- 
gation of Contracts/ or grant any Title of Nobility. 

No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay 
any Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what 
may be absolutely necessary for executing its inspection Laws : 
and the net Produce of all Duties and Imposts, laid by any 
State on Imports or Exports, shall be for the Use of the 
Treasury of the United States ; and all such Laws shall be 
subject to the Revision and Controul of the Congress. 

' Where a law is iu its nature a contract, where absolute rights have vested under that contract, 
a repeal of the law can not divest those rights. — Fletcher vs. Peck, 6 Cranch, 88. 

A party to a contract can not pronounce its own deed invalid, although that party be a sover- 
eign Stale. — /(/., 88. 

A grant is a contract executed. — Id., 89. 

A law annulling conveyance is unconstitutional, because it is a law impairing the obligation of 
contracts within tlie meaning of the Constitution of the United States. — Id. 

The court will not declare a law to be unconstitutional, unless the opposition between the 
Constitution and the law be clear and plain. — Id., 87. 

An act of the Legislature of a State, declaring that certain lands which should be purchased for 
the Indians should not thereafter be subject to any tax, constituted a contract which could not, 
after the adoption of the Constitution of the United States, be rescinded by a subsequent legislative 
act — such rescinding act being void under the Constitution of the United States. — State of New 
Jersey vs. Wilson, 1 Cranch, 164. 

The present Constitution of the United States did not commence its operation until the first 
"Wednesday in March, 1789, and the provision in the Constitution, that "no State shall make 
any law impairing the obligation of contracts," does not extend to a State law enacted before that 
day, and operating upon rights of property vesting before thai time. — Owings vs. Speed, 5 Wheaton, 
420, 421. 

An act of a State Legislature, which discharges a debtor from all liability for debts contracted 
previous to his discharge, on his surrendering his property for the benefit of his creditors, is a law 
impairing " the obligation of contracts," within the meaning of the Constitution of the L^nited 
States, so far as it attempts to discharge the contract ; and it makes no difference in such a case, 
that the suit was brought in a State court of the State of which both the parties were citizens 
where the contract was made, and tlie discharge obtained, and where they continued to reside until 
the suit was brought. — Farmers' and Mechanics^ Bank vs. Smith, 6 Wheaton, 1,31. 

The act of New York, passed on the 3d of April, 1811 (which not only liberates the person of 
the debtor, but discharges liira from all hability for any debt contracted previous to his discharge, 
on his surrendering his property in the manner it prescribes), so far as it attempts to discharge the 
contract, is a law impairing tlie obligation of contracts, within the meaning of the Constitution of 
the United States, and is not a good plea in bar of an action brought upon such contract. — Sturgess 
vs. Crowninshiekl, 4 Wheaton, 122, 197. 

Statutes of limitation and usury laws, unless retro-active in their effect, do not impair the obliga- 
tion of contracts, and are constitutional. — Id., 206. 

A State bankrupt or insolvent law (which not only liberates the person of the debtor, but dis- 
charges him from all liability for the debt), so far as it attempts to discharge the contract, is repug- 
nant to the Constitution of the United States, and it makes no difference in the apphcation of this 
principle, whether the law was passed before or after the debt was contracted. — JUMillan vs. 
M-Niill, 4 Wheaton, 209. 

The charter granted by the British crown to the trustees of Dartmouth College, in New Hamp- 
shire, in the year 1769, is a contract within the meaning of that clause of the Constitution of the 
LTnited States (art. i., sect. 10) which declares, that no State shall make any law impairing th'j 
obligation of contracts. The charter was not dissolved by the Revolution. — College vs. Woodard, 
4 Wheaton, 518. 

An act of the State Legislature of New Hampshire, altering the charter of Dartmouth College in 
a material respect, without the consent of the corporation, is an act impairing the obligation of the 
charter, and is unconstitutional and void. — Id., 518. 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 621 

No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any 
Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships-of-War in time of 
Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with another 
State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War, unless 
actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not 
admit of Delay. 

ARTICLE II. 

Section 1. The executive Power shall be vested in a Executive power, in 
President of the United States of America. He shall hold ^^i^o"! nested. ' 
his Office during the Term of four Years,' and, together with 
the A^icc President, chosen for the same Term, be elected, as 
follows : 

Each State shall appoint, in such JNIanncr as the Legisla- Presidential electors. 
ture thereof may direct,'^ a Number of Electors, equal to the 
whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the 
State may be entitled in the Congress : but no Senator or 
Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit 
under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector. 

[^ The electors shall meet in their respective States, and President and Vice- 
vote by ballot for two persons, of whom one at least shall not o'l^^ "" ' 
be an inhabitant of the same State Avith themselves. And 
they shall make 3; list of all the persons voted for, and of the 
number of votes for each ; which list they shall sign and cer- 
tify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the 
United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The 
President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate 
and House of Representatives, open all the certificates, and the 
votes shall then be counted. The person having the greatest 
number of votes shall be the President, if such number be a 
majority of the whole number of electors appointed ; and if 
there be more than one who have such majority, and have an 
equal number of votes, then the House of Rciircsentatives 
shall immediately choose by ballot one of them for President; 
and if no person have a majority, then from the five highest 
on the list the said House shall in like manner choose the 
President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be 
taken by States — the representation fr( m each State having 
one vote ; a quorum fur this purpose shall consist of a member 
or members from two thirds of the States, and a mnjority of 
all the States sh-ill be necessary to a choice. In every case, 
after the choice of the President, the person having the great- 
est number of votes of the electors shall be the Vice-President. 



* See Laws United States, vol. ii., chap. 109, sect. 12. 

" See Laws United States, vol. ii., chap. 109. ' Vide Ameudments, art. xa. 



G22 



SUPPLEMENT. 



Time of choosing 
electors. 



Qualiflcations of the 
President. 



Resort in case of his 
disability. 



-alary of the President. 



Oath of Office. 



Duties of the President. 



But if there should remain two or more who have equal votes, 
the Senate shall choose from them by ballot the Vice Presi- 
dent.'] 

The Congress may determine the Time of chusing the 
Electors,^ and the Day on which they shall give their Votes ; 
which Day shall be the same throughout the United States.^ 

No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of 
the United States at the time of the Adoption of this Consti- 
tution, shall be eligible to the Office of President ; neither 
shall any person be eligible to that Office who shall not have 
attained to the Age of thirty-five Years, and been fourteen 
Years a Resident within the United States. 

In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or 
of his Death, Resignation,^ or Inability to discharge the Pow- 
ers and Duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the 
Vice President, and the Congress may by Law provide for the 
Case of Removal, Death, Resignation or Inability, both of the 
President and Vice President, declaring what Officer shall 
then act as President, and such officer shall act accordingly, 
until the Disability be removed, or a President shall be 
elected.^ 

The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Serv- 
ices, a Compensation, which shall neither be increased nor 
diminished during the Period for which he shall have been 
elected, and he shall not receive within that Period any other 
Emolument from the United States, or any of them." 

Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall 
take the following Oath or Affirmation : 

" I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully 
execute the Office of President of the United States, and will 
to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect, and defend the 
Constitution of the United States." 

Section 2. The President shall be Commander in chief 
of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Mil- 
itia of the several States, when called into the actual Service 
of the United States ;' he may require the Opinion, in writing, 



* This clause is annulled. See Amendments, art. xii. 
^ See Laws United States, vol. ii., chap. 104, sec. 1. 

' See Laws United States, vol. ii., chap. 109, sec. 2. Now the first Tuesday in November. 

* See Laws United States, vol. ii., chap. 104, sec. 11. 

^ See Laws United States, vol ii., chap. 109, sec. 9; and vol. iii., chap. 403. 

* The salary of the President is twenty-five thousand dollars a year. 

' The act of the State of Pennsylvania, of the 28th March, 1814 (providing, sec. 21, that the 
officers and privates of tlie militia of that State ncglectins: or refbsing to serve when called into ac- 
tual service, in pursuance of any order or requisition of the President of the United States, shall be 
liable to the penalties defined in the act of Conp;ress of 28th February. 1795, chap. 277, or to any 
penalty which may have been prescribed since the date of that act, or which may hereafter bo pre- 
scribed by any law of the LTnited States, and also providing for the trial of such dehnquents by a 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 



G23 



of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, 

upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective 

Offices, and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Par- * 

dons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of 

Impeachment. 

He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent nis power to make 
of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the b^dorsjudgel, el"! 
Senators present concur ; and he shall nominate, and by and 
with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Am- 
bassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the 
supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, 
whose appointments are not herein hitherto provided for, and 
which shall be established by Law : but the Congress may by 
Law vest the Appointment of sucli inferior Officers, as they 
think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or 
in the Heads of Departments. 

The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies May an vacancies, 
that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting 
Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Ses- 
sion. 

Section 3. He shall from time to time give to the Con- 
gress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend 
to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge neces- 
sary and expedient ; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, con- 
vene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagree- 
ment between them, w itli Respect to the Time of Adjournment, 
he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper; 
he shall receive Ambassadors and other pu])lic Ministers ; he 
shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall 
Commission all the officers of the United States. 

Section 4. The President, Vice President, and all civil "o^ officers may be 

removed. 

Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on 
Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or 
other high Crimes or Misdemeanors. 



Power to (-onveno 
Confess. 



ARTICLE III, 



Section 1. The iudicial Power of the United States, shall Judicial power, how 

. . ' vested. 

be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts 
as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish.' 



State court-martial, and that a list of the delinquents fined by such court should be furnished to the 
taarshal of the United States, etc. ; and also to the comptroller of the treasury of the United States, 
in order that the further proceedings directed to be had thereon by tlie laws of the United States 
might be completed), is not repugnant to the Constitution and laws of the i:fnited States. — Houston 
vs. Moore. 5 Wheaion, 1, 12. 

■ Congress may constitutionally impose upon the judges of the Supreme Court of the United 
States the burden of holding circuit courts. — Stuart vs. Laird, 1 Cranck, 289. 



624 



SUPPLEMENT. 



To what eases it ex- 
tends. 



Jurisdiction of the Su- 
preme Court. 



The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall 
hold their Offices during good Behavior, and shall, at stated 
Times, receive for their Services, a Compensation, which shall 
not be diminislied during their Continuance in Office.' 

Section 2. The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, 
in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws 
of the United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be 
made, under their Authority ; — to all cases affecting Ambas- 
sadors, other public Ministers and Consuls ; — to all Cases of 
admiralty and maritime Jurisdiction; — to Controversies to 
which the United States shall be a Party ; — to Controversies 
betAveen two or more States ; — between a State and Citizens 
of another State ; — ^between Citizens of different States ;" — be- 
tween Citizens of the same State claiming Lands under Grants 
of different States, and between a State, or the Citizens 
thereof, and foreign States, Citizens or Subjects.^ 

In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers 
and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be a Party, the 
supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the other 
Cases before mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appel- 
late Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Excep- 
tions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make. 



' See laws of the United States, vol. ii., chap. 20. 

^ A citizen of the District of Cohimbia is not a citizen of a State within the meaning of the Con- 
stitution of the United States. — Hepburn, et al. vs. Ellzey, 2 Cranch, 445. 

^ The Supreme Court of tlie United States has not power to issue a mandamus to a Secretary 
of State of the United States, it being an exercise of original jurisdiction not warranted by the Con- 
stitution, notwithstanding the act of Congress. — Marbury vs. Madison, 1 Cranch, 137. 

See a restriction of this provision. — Amendments, art. xi. 

* The appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of the United States extends to a final judg- 
ment or decree in any suit in the highest court of law, or equity of a State, where is drawn in ques- 
tion the validity of a treaty, etc. — Martin vs. Hunter^s lessee, 1 Wheaton, 304. 

Such judgment, etc., may be re-examined by writ of error, in the same manner as if rendered in 
a circuit court. — Id. 

If the cause has been once remanded before, and the State court decHne or refuse to carry into 
effect the mandate of the Supreme Court thereon, this court will proceed to a final decision of the 
same, and award execution thereon. 

Quere. — Wliether this court has authority to issue a mandamus to the State court to enforce a 
former judgment ? — Id., 362. 

If the validity or construction of a treaty of the United States is drawn in question, and the 
decision is against its validity, or the title specially set up by either party under the treaty, thia 
court has jurisdiction to ascertain that title, and determine its legal validity, and is not confined to 
the abstract construction of the treaty itself. — Id., 362. 

Quere. — Whether the courts of the United States have jurisdiction of offenses at common law 
against the United States? — United States vs. Coolidge, 1 Wlieaton, 415. 

The courts of the United States have exclusive jurisdiction of all seizures made on land or water 
for a breach of the laws of the United vStates ; and any intervention of a State authority, which bj' 
taking the thing seized out of the hands of the United States' officer, might obstruct the exercise of 
this jurisdiction, is illegal. — Slocum vs. Mayberry et al., 2 Wheaton, 1, 9. 

In such a case the court of the United States have cognizance of the seizure, may enforce a re- 
delivery of the thing by attachment or other summary process. — Id., 9. 

The question under such a seizure, whether a forfeiture has been actually incurred, belongs 
exclusively to the courts of the United States, and it depends upon the final decree of such courts, 
whether the seizure is to be deemed rightful or tortuous. — Id., 9, 10. 

If the seizing officer refuse to institute proceedings to ascertain the forfeiture, the district court 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 625 

The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, Rules respecting truis. 
shall be by Jury ; and such Trial shall be held in the State 
where the said Crimes shall have been committed ; but when 

may, on application of the aggrieved party, compel the officer to proceed to adjudication or to aban- 
don tlie seizure. — Id., 10. ' 

The jurisdiction of the Circuit Court of the United States extend.s to a case Ijctween citizens of 
Kentucky, claiming lands exceeding the value of live hundred dollars, under dillerent grants— the 
one issued by the State of Kentucky, and the other by the State of Virginia, upon warrants 
issued by Virginia, and locations founded thereon, prior to the separation of Kentucky from Vir- 
ginia. It is the grant which passes the legal title to the land, and if the controversy is founded 
upon the conflicting grants of different States, the judicial power of the courts of the United States 

extends to the case, whatever may have been the equitable title of the parties prior to the grant. 

Colson et al. vs. Leivis, 2 Wheaton, 377. 

Under the judiciary of 1789, chap. 20, sect. 25, giving appellate jurisdiction to the Supreme Court 
of the United States, from the final judgment or decree of the highest court of law or equity of a 
State, in certain cases the writ of error may be directed to any court in which the record and 
judgment on which it is to act may be found; and if the record has been remitted by the highest 

court, &c., to another court of the State, it may be brouglit by the writ of error from that court 

Gelsi07i vs. Hoyi, 3 Wheaton, 246, 303. 

The remedies in the courts of the United States at common law and in equity are to be, not 
according to the practice of State courts, but according to the principles of common law and equity 
as defined in England. This doctrine reconciled with the decisions of the courts of Tennessee, per- 
mitting an equitable title to be asserted in an action at law. — Robinson vs. Campbell, 3 Wheaton 
221. 

Eemedies in respect to real property are to be pursued according to the lex loci rei sitce. — Id 
219. 

The courts of the United States have exclusive cognizance of questions of forfeiture upon all 
seizures made under the laws of the United States, and it is not competent for a State court 
to entertain or decide such question of forfeiture. If a sentence of condemnation be definitively 
pronounced by the proper court of the United States, it is conclusive that a forfeiture is incurred ; 
if a sentence of acquittal, it is equally conclusive against the forfeiture, and in either case the 
question can not be again litigated in any common law for ever. — Gelston vs. Iloyt, 3 Wheaton, 246, 
311. 

Where a seizure is made for a supposed forfeiture under a law of the United States, no action 
of trespass hes in any common- law tribunal, until a final decree is pronounced upon the proceeding 
in rem to enforce such forfeiture ; for it depends upon the final decree of the court proceeding in 
rem, whether such seizure is to be deemed rightful or tortuous, and the action, if brought before 
such decree is made, is brought too soon. — Id., 313. 

If a suit be brought against the seizing officer for the supposed trespass while the suit for the 
forfeiture is depending, the fact of such pending may be pleaded in abatement, or as a temporar}- 
bar of the action. If afl;er a decree of condemnation, then that fact may be pleaded as a bar ; ii' 
after an acquittal with a certificate of reasonable cause of seizure, then that may be pleaded as 
a bar. If after an acquittal without such certificate, then the officer is without any justification for 
the seizure, and it is definitively settled to be a tortuous act. If to an action of trespass in a State 
court for a seizure, the seizing officer plead the flict of forfeiture in his defense, without averring a 
lis pendens, or a coudenmation or an acquittal, with a certificate of reasonable cause of seizure, 
the plea is bad : for it attempts to put in issue the question of a forfeiture in a State court. — Id., 
314, 

Supposing that the third article of the Constitution of the United States, which declares, that 
"the judicial power shall extend to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction," vested in the 
United States exclusive jurisdiction of all such cases, and that a murder committed in the waters 
of a State where the tide ebbs and flows, is a case of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction ; yet Con- 
gress have not, in the 8th section of the act of 1790, chap. 9, "for the punishment of certain crimes 
against the United States," so exercised this power as to confer on the courts of the United States 
jurisdiction over such murder. — United States vs. Beuans, 3 Wheaton, 336, 387. 

Quere. — ^Whether courts of common law have concurrent jurisdiction with the admiralty over 
murder committed in bays, &c., which are enclosed parts of the sea? — Id., 387. 

The grant to the United States, m the Constitution, of all cases of admiralty and maritime juris- 
diction, does not extend to a cession of the waters in which chose cases may arise, or of general 
jurisdiction over the same. Congress may pass all laws which are necessary for giving the most 
complete effect to the exercise of the admiralty and maritime jurisdiction granted to the govern- 
ment of the Union ; but the general jurisdiction over the place subject to this grant, adheres to the 
territory as a portion of territory not yet given away, and the residuary powers of legislation still 
remain in the State. — Id., 389. 

The Supreme Court of the United States has constitutionally appelate jurisdiction und.r ti.o 

40 



(32(3 SUPPLEMENT. 

not committed within any State, the Trial shall be at such 
Place or Places as the Congress may by Law have directed.' 
Ticason dcflned. SECTION 3. Trcason against the United States, shall con- 

sist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their 
Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. 

No Person shall be convicted of Treason, unless on the 
Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on 
Confession in open Court. 
How punished. The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punish- 

ment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work 
Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of 
the Person attainted.^ 



judiciary act of 1789, chap. 20, sect. 25, from the final judgment or decree of the liighest court of 
law or equity of a State having jurisdiction of the subject-matter of the suit, where is drawn in 
question the validity of a treaty or statute of, or an authority exercised under, the United States, 
and the decision is against their validity ; or where is drawn in question the validity of a statute 
of, or an authority exercised under, any State, on the ground of their being repugnant to the Con- 
stitution, treaties, or laws of the United States, and the decision is in favor of such their vaUdity ; 
or of the Constitution, or of a treaty, or statute of, or commission held under, the United States, and 
the decision is against the title, right, privilege, or exemption, specially .set up or clauned by either 
party under such clause of the Constitution, treaty, statute, or commission. — Cohens vs. Virginia, 6 
Wheaton, 264, 375. 

It is no objection to the exercise of this appellate jurisdiction, that one of the parties is a State, 
and the other a citizen of that State. — Id. 

The Circuit Courts of the Union have chancery jurisdiction in every State ; they have the same 
chancery powers, and the same rules of decision in equity cases, in all the States. — United States 
vs. Hoioland, 4 Wheaton, 108, 115. 

Resolution of tlie Legislature of Vu-ginia of 1810, upon the proposition from Pennsylvania to 
amend the Constitution, so as to provide an impartial tribunal to decide disputes between the State 
and Federal judiciaries. — Note to Cohens ys. Virginia. Notes 6 Wheaton, 358. 

Where a cause is brought to this court by writ of error, or appeal from the highest court of law 
or equity of a State, "under the 25th section of the judiciary act of 1789, chap. 20, upon the ground 
that the vaUdity of a statute of the United States was drawn in question, and that the decision of 
the State court was against its validity, &c., or that the validity of the statute of a State was drawn 
in question as repugnant to the Constitution of the United States, and the decision was in favor of 
its vaUdity, it must appear from the record, that the act of Congress, or the constitutionaUty of the 
State law was drawn in question. — Miller vs. NichoUs, 4 Wheaton, 311, 315. 

But it is not required that the record shoidd in terms state a misconstruction of the act of 
Congress, or that it was drawn into question. It is sufficient to give this court jmisdiction of 
the cause, that the record should show that an act of Congress was apphcable to the case. — Id., 
315. 

The Supreme Court of the United States has no jurisdiction under the 25th section of the ju- 
"diciary act of 1789, chap. 20, unless the judgment or decree of the State court be a final judgment or 
decree. A judgment reversing that of an inferior court, and awarding a venire facias de novo, is not 
a final judgment. — Houston vs. Moore, 3 Wheaton, 433. 

By the compact of 1802, settling the boundary line between Yirginia and Tennessee, and the 
laws made in pursuance thereof, it is declared that all claims and titles to land derived from 
Virginia, or North CaroUna, or Tennessee, which have fallen into the respective States, shall 
remain as secure to the owners thereof, as if derived from the government within whose boundary 
they have fallen, and shall not be prejudiced or affected by the estabhshment of the line. Where 
the titles of both the plaintiff and defendant in ejectment were derived under grant from Yirginia 
to lands which feU within the Umits of Tennessee, it was held that a prior settlement right thereto, 
wliich would in equity give the party a title, could not be asserted as a sufficient title in an action 
of ejectment brought in the Circuit Court of Tennessee. — Robinson vs. Campbell, 3 Wheaton, 212. 

Although the State courts of Tennessee have decided that, under their statutes (declaring an 
elder grant founded on a junior entry to be void), a junior patent, founded on a prior entry, shall 
prevail at law against a senior patent founded on a junior entry, this doctrine has never been 
extended beyond cases within the express provision of the statute of Tennessee, and could not 
apply to titles deriving aU their vahdity from the laws of Yirginia, and confirmed by the compact 
between the two States. — Id., 212. * Yide Amendments, art. vi. 

' See Laws of the United States, vol ii, chap. 36. 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 



627 



ARTICLE IV. 



Section 1. Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each 
State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings 
of every other State.' And the Congress may by general 
Laws prescribe the Manner in which such Acts, Records and 
Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effect thereof." 

Section 2. The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to 
all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. 

A Person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or 
other Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in 
another State, shall on Demand of the executive Authority 
of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be remov- 
ed to the State having Jurisdiction of the Crime. 

No Person held to Service or Labor in one State, under 
the Laws thereof escaping to another, shall, in Consequence 
of any Law or Regulation therein, be discharged from such 
Service or Labor, but shall be delivered up on Claim of the 
Party to whom such Service or Labor may be due.' 

Section 3. New States may be admitted by the Congress 
into this Union ; but no new State shall be formed or erected 
within the Jurisdiction of any other State ; nor any State be 
formed by the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of 
States, without the consent of the Legislatures of the States 
concerned as well as of the Congress. 

The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all 
needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or 
other Property belonging to the United States ; and nothing 
in this Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any 
Claims of the United States, or of any particular State. 

Section 4. The Constitution shall guaranty to every 
State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and 
shall protect each of them against Invasion ; and on Applica- 
tion of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legis- 
lature can not be convened) against domestic violence. 



Bights of states de- 
fined. 



Privileges of citizens. 
Executive reqaisltlon. 



Law regulating service 
or labor. 



New states, how form- 
ed and admitted. 



Power of Congress over 
public lands. 



Eepublican govern- 
ment guarantied. 



' A judgment of a State court has the same credit, validity, and effect, in every other court 
within the United States, which it had m the court where it was rendered; and whatever pleas 
would be.(?ood to a suit thereon in such State, and none otliers, can be pleaded in any other court 
witliin the United StaXea.— Hampton vs. McConnell, 3 Wlieaton, 234. 

The record of a judgment in one State is conclusive evidence in another, although it appears 
that the suit in which it was rendered was commenced by an attachment of property, the defendant 
having afterward appeared and taken defense.— J/ay/iew vs. Tliwher, G Wlieaton, 129. 

* See Laws United States, voL ii, chap. 38; and vol. iii., chap. 409. , ^ ^ . . ^ 

^ "This is the clause of the Constitution on which is based the provisions of the Fugitive Slave 
Law of 1850. See page 501. 



628 



SUPPLEMENT. 



Constitution, how 
be amended. 



ARTICLE V. 

The ConEress, -whenever two thirds of both Houses shall 
deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Consti- 
tution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds 
of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing 
Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all In- 
tents and Purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified 
by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or 
by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the 
other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress ; 
Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the 
Year one thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Man- 
ner aifect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of 
the first Article ; and that no State, without its Consent, shall 
be deprived of its equal Sufirage in the Senate.' 



ARTICLE VI. 



Validity of debts rec- 
ognized. 



iiipremo law of the 
land defined. 



Oath, of whom requir- 
ed, and what for. 



All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before 
the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the 
United States under this Constitution, as under the Confeder- 
ation. 

This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which 
shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or 
which shall be made, under the authority of the Lhiited 
States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land;^ and the 
Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any thing in 
the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary not- 
withstanding.' 

The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and 
the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all execu- 
tive and judicial Ofiicers, both of the United States and of the 
several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to sup- 
port this Constitution ;* but no religious Test shall ever be re- 
quired as a Qualification to any Oflfice or public Trust under 
the United States. 



' See ante, art. I, sec. 3, clause 1. 

"^ An act of Congress repugnant to the Constitution can not become a law. — Marbury vs. Madi- 
son, 1 Cranch, 176. 

' The courts of the United States are bound to take notice of the Constitution. — Ma^hury vs. 
Madison, 1 Cranch, 178. 

A contemporary exposition of the Constitution, practised and acquiesced under for a period of 
years, fixes its construction. — Stuart vs. Laird, 1 Cranch, 299. 

The government of the Union, though limited in its powers, is supreme within its sphere of 
action, and its laws, when made in pursuance of the Constitution, form the supreme law of the land. 
— McCuUochys. State of Maryland, 4 Wlieaton, 405. 

* Sec Laws of the tluited States, vol. ii., cliap. 1. 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 629 



AETICLE VII. 

The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States shall Katmcauon. 
be sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between 
the States so ratifying the Same. 

Done in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the States 
present, the Seventeenth Day of September, in the Year 
of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty- 
seven, and of the Independence of the United States the 
Twelfth. In Witness whereof We have hereunto sub- 
scribed our Names. 

Geo. Washington, 
President, and deputy from Virginia. 

NEW HAMPSIIIKE. PENNSYLVANIA. VIRGINIA. 

John Lasgdon, Benjamin Franklin, J(,i,^. Blair, 

Nicholas Gilman. Thomas Mifflin, James Madison, jr. 
Robert Morris, 

MASSACHUSETTS. George Cltmer, NORTH CAROLINA. 

Nathaniel Gorham, Thomas Fitzsimons, William Blount, 

EuFus Kino. Jared Ingersoll, Richard Dobbs Spaight, 

James Wilson, II ugh Williamson. 
CONNECTICLTT. Gouvekneur Morris. 

William Samuel Johnson, DELAWARE. SOUTH CAROLINA. 

Roger Sherman. George Reed ' Charles C. Pinckney, 

NEW YORK. G-ning Bedford, jr., Jl^ .^^ -"• 

, ,, John Dickinson, „ ^ 

Alexander Hamilton. Pierce Butler. 
Richard Bassett, 

NEW JERSEY. Jacob Broom. GEORGIA. 

William Livingston, MARYLAND. William Few, 

David Beeaelet, James M'Henrt, Abraham Baldwin. 

William Paterson, Daniel of St. Thos. Jenifer, 

Jonathan Dayton. Daniel Carroll. 

Attest : William Jackson, Secretary. 



AMENDMENTS 



TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES, RATIFIED 
ACCORDING TO THE PROVISIONS OF THE FIFTH ARTICLE 
OF THE FOREGOING CONSTITUTION. 

Article the first. Congress shall make no law respect- Freedom in reHrfoi, 

1 ,. , p ,. . 1 -1 • • \ n '^"'^ speech, and of 

ing an establishment oi religion, or prohibiting the tree exer- the press, 
cise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the 
press ; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and 
to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. 



* Cono^css, at its first session, begun and held in the city of New York, on Wednesday, the 4th 
of March, 1789, proposed to the Letrislatures of the several States twelve amendments to the Con- 
stitution, ten of which, only, were adopted. 



630 



SUPPLEMENT. 



Militia. 



Soldiers. 



Search-warrants. 



Capital crimes. 



Trial by jury. 



Suits at common law. 



Bail. 



Article the second. A well-regulated Militia being 
necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the peo- 
ple to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. 

Article the third. No Soldier shall, in time of peace 
be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, 
nor in a time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by 
law. 

Article the fourth. The right of the people to be 
secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against 
unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and 
no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported 
by Oatb or affirmation, and particularly describing the place 
to be searched, and the person or things to be seized. 

Article the fifth. No person shall be held to answer 
for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a pre- 
sentment or indictment of a Grand Jary, except in cases aris- 
ing in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in 
actual service in time of War or public danger ; nor shall any 
person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeop- 
ardy of life or limb ; nor shall be compelled in any Criminal 
Case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, 
liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall 
private property be taken for public use, without just compen- 
sation. 

Article the sixth. In all criminal prosecutions, the 
accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by 
an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime 
shall have been committed, which district shall have been pre- 
viously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature 
and cause of the accusation ; to be confronted with the wit- 
nesses against him ; to have Compulsory process for obtaining 
Witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel 
for his defence. 

Article the seventh. In Suits at common law, where 
the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right 
of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, 
shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of the United 
States, than according to the rules of the common law.' 

Article the eighth. Excessive bail shall not be 



' The act of Assembly, in Maryland, of 1793, chap. 30, incorporatmg the bank of Columbia, and 
giving to the corporation a summary process by execution in the nature of an attachment against 
its debtors who have, by an express consent in ^\Titing. made the bonds, bQls, or notes, by them 
drawn or endorsed, negotiable at the bank, is not repugnant to the Constitution of the United 
States or of Maryland. — Bank of Columbia vs. Okely, 4 Wheaton, 236, 249. 

But the last provision in the act of incorporation, which gives this simimary process to the liank, 
is no part of its corporate franchise, and may be repealed or altered at pleasure by the legislative 
will.— J(7., 245. 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 



631 



required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual 
punishments inflicted. 

Article the ninth. The enumeration in the Constitu- certain rights defined, 
tion, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or dis- 
parage others retained by the people. 

Article the tenth. The powers not delegated to the Eigiiu rescrvod. 
United States, by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the 
states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the peo- 
ple.' 

Article the eleventh." The judicial power of the Judicial power limited. 

United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in 

law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the 

United States by Citizens of another State, or by Citizens or 

Subjects of any Foreign State. 

Article the twelfth.^ The Electors shall meet in their Amendment respect- 
er 1 1 1 n f^ T^ • 1 1 IT- inj: the election of 

respective otates, and vote by ballot tor President and \' ice President and vico 
President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of 
the same state with themselves ; they shall name in their bal- 
lots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots 
the person voted for as Vice President, and they shall make 
distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all 
persons voted for as Vice President, and of the number of 
votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and 
transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United 
States, directed to The president of the Senate;' — The Presi- 



President. 



' The powers granted to Congress are not exclusive of similar powers existing in the States, 
unless where the Constitution has expressly, in terms, given an exclusive power to Congress, or the 
exercise of a like power is prohibited to the States, or there is a direct repugnancy or incompatibil- 
ity in the exercise of it by the States. — Houston vs. Moore, 5 Wheaton, 1, 12. 

The example of the first class is to be found in the exclusive legislation delegated to Congress 
over places purchased by the consent of the Legislature of the State in which the same shall be, 
for forts, arsenals, dockyards, &c. Of the second class, the prohibition of a State to coin money or 
emit bills of credit. Of the third clas.s, the power to establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and 
the delegation of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction. — Id., 49. 

In aU other classes of cases, the States retain concurrent authority with Congress. — Id., 49. 

But in cases of concurrent authority, where the laws of the States and the Union arc in direct 
and manifest colhsion on the same subject, those of the Union being the supreme law of the land, 
are of paramount authority, and the State laws so far, and so far only as such incompatibility exists, 
must necessarily yield. — Id.. 49. 

There is nothing in the Constitution of the United States similar to the Articles of Confedera- 
tion, which excludes incidental or implied ])o\vcts.—AI Culloch vs. State of Maryland., 4 Wheaton, 
406. 

If the end be legitimate, and within the scope of the Constitution, all the means which are 
appropriate, which are plainly adapted to that end, and which are not prohibited, may constitution- 
ally be emploved to carr}^ it into effect. — Id., 421. 

The act of Congress of 4th May, 1812, entitled, "An act further to amend the charter of the 
city of Washington," which provides (sect. 6) that the corporation of the city shaU be empowered 
for certam purposes and under certain restrictions, to authorize the drawmg of lotteries, does not 
extend to authorize the corporation to force the sale of the tickets in such lottery in States where 
such sale may be prohibited by the State \zvfS.— Cohem vs. Virginia, 6 Wheaton, 2&i, 375. _ _ 

* This amendment was proposed at the first session of the third Congress. See OTite, art. m., 

sect. 2, clause 1. ^ rt._i.-i.-iio 

^ Proposed at the first session of the eighth Congress. See ante, art. u. sect. 1, clause 3. 
AnnuUed by this amendment. * See Laws of the United States, vol. u., chap. 109, sect 5. 



President. 



632 SUPPLEMENT. 

Amendment respect- dent of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and 
President and Vice House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the 
votes shall then be counted ; — the person having the greatest 
number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such 
number be a majority of the whole number of electors 
appointed ; and if no person have such majority, then from 
the persons having the highest numbers, not exceeding three 
on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Rep- 
resentatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. 
But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by 
states, the representation from each state having one vote ; a 
quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members 
from two thirds of the States, and a majority of all the states 
shall be necessary to a choice. And if the House of Repre- 
sentatives shall not choose a President whenever the right of 
choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of 
March next following, then the Vice President shall act as 
President, as in the case of the death or other constitutional 
disability of the President. The person having the greatest 
number of votes as Vice President, shall be the Vice Presi- 
dent, if such number be a majority of the whole number of 
Electors appointed, and if no person have a majority, then 
from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall 
choose the Vice President ; a quorum for the purpose shall 
consist of two thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a 
majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. 
But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of Pres- 
ident shall be eligible to that of Vice President of the United 
States. 



Note. — Another amendment was proposed as article xiii, at the. second session of the eleventh 
Congress, but not having been ratified by a sufficient number of States, has not yet become valid as 
a part of the Constitution of the United Stales. It is erroneously given as a part of the Constitu- 
tion, in page 74, vol. i., Laws of the United States. 



VIII. 
WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDHESS.' 

Friends and Fellow-Citizens — • 

The period for a new election of a citizen, to administer the executive gov- 
ernment of the United States, being not far distant, and the time actually 
arrived when your thoughts must bo employed in designating the person who is 
to be clothed with that important trust, it appears to me proper, especially as it 
may conduce to a more distinct expression of the public voice, that I should now 
apprise you of the resolution I have formed, to decline being considered among 
the number of those out of whom a choice is to be made. I beg you, at the 
same time, to do me the justice to be assured, that this resolution has not been 
taken without a strict regard to all the considerations appertaining to the rela- 
tions which bind a dutiful citizen to his country ; and that, in withdrawing the 
tender of service which silence in my situation might imply, I am influenced by 
no diminution of zeal for your future interest — no deficiency of grateful respect 
for your past kindness ; but am supported by a full conviction that the step is 
compatible with both. 

The acceptance of, and continuance hitherto in, the office to which your suf- 
fi-ases have twice called me, have been a uniform sacrifice of inclination to the 
opinion of duty, and to a deference for what appeared to be your desire. I 
constantly hoped that it would have been much earlier in my power, consist- 
ently with motives which I was not at liberty to disregard, to return to that 
retirement from which I have been reluctantly drawn. The strength of my 
inclination to do this, previous to the last election, had even led to the prepa- 
ration of an address to declare it to you ; but mature reflection on the then per- 
plexed and critical posture of our affiiirs with foreign nations, and the unani- 
mous advice of persons entitled to my confidence, impelled me to abandon the 
idea. 

I rejoice that the state of your concerns, external as well as internal, no 
longer renders the pursuit of inclination incompatible with the sentiment of 
duty or propriety : and am persuaded, whatever partiality may be retained for 
my services, that in the present circumstances of our country, you will not dis- 
approve my determination to retire. 

The impressions with which I first undertook the arduous task, wore ex- 
plained on the proper occasion. In the discharge of this trust, I will only say, 
that I have, with good intentions, contributed toward the organization and ad- 
ministration of the government, the best exertions of which a very fallible judg- 

» See page 382. The original manuscript is in the possession of James Lennox, Esq., of New 
York city. 



G34 SUPPLEMEXT. 

ment was capable. Not unconscious, in the outset, o. the inferiority of my 
qualifications, experience in my own eyes, perhaps still more in the eyes of 
others, has strengthened the motives to diffidence of myself; and, every day, the 
increasing weight of yeais admonishes me more and more that the shade of re- 
tirement is as necessary to me as it will be welcome. Satisfied that if any cir- 
cumstances have given peculiar value to my services, they were temporary, I 
have the consolation to believe, that while choice and prudence invite me to quit 
the political scene, patriotism does not forbid it. 

In lookinfj forward to the moment which is intended to t-erminate the career 
of my public life, my feelings do not permit me to suspend th'e deep acknowl- 
edgment of that debt of gratitude which I owe to my beloved country, for the 
many honors it has conferred upon me ; still more for the stedfast confidence 
with which it has supported me ; and for the opportunities I have thence en- 
joyed of manifesting my inviolable attachment, by services faithful and perse- 
vering, though in usefulness unequal to my zeal. If benefits have resulted to 
our country from these services, let it always be remembered to your praise and 
as an instructive example in our annals, that under cu'cumstances in which the 
passions, agitated in every direction, Avere liable to mislead, amid appearances 
sometimes dubious — vicissitudes of fortune often discouraging — in situations in 
which not unfrequently want of success has countenanced the spirit of criticism 
—the constancy of your support was the essential prop of the efforts, and the 
guaranty of the plans by which they were effected. 

Profoundly penetrated with this idea, I shall carry it with me to my grave, 
as a strong incitement to unceasing vows that Heaven may continue to you the 
choicest tokens of its benevolence — that your union and brotherly affection may 
be perpetual — that the free Constitution, which is the work of your hands, may 
be sacredly maintained — that its administration in every department may be 
stamped with wisdom and virtue — that, in fine, the happiness of the people of 
these States, under the auspices of liberty, may be made complete, by so careful 
a preservation, and so prudent a use of this blessing, as will acquire to them 
the glory of recommending it to the applause of every nation which is yet a 
stranger to it. 

Here, perhaps, I ought to stop. But a solicitude for your welfare, which 
can not end but with my life, and the a})prehension of danger, natural to that 
solicitude, urge me, on an occasion like the present, to offer to your solemn con- 
templation, and to recommend to your frequent review, some sentiments ; which 
are the result of much reflection, of no inconsiderable observation, and which 
appear to me all-important to the permanency of your felicity as a people. 
These will be offered to you with the more freedom, as you can only see in 
them the disinterested warnings of a parting friend, who can possibly have no 
personal motives to bias his counsel. Nor can I forget as an encouragement to 
it, your indulgent reception of my sentiments on a former and not dissimilar 
occasion. Interwoven as is the love of liberty with every ligament of your 
hearts, no recommendation of mine is necessary to fortify or confirm the attach- 
ment. 



WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 635 

The unity of government which constitutes you one people, is also now dear 
to mo. It is justly so : for it is a main pillar in the edifice of your real inde- 
pendence, the support of your tranquillity at home, your peace abroad ; of your 
safety : of your prosperity ; of that very liberty which you so highly prize. But 
as it is easy to foresee, that from different causes and from diffurent quarters 
much pains will be taken, many artifices employed, to weaken in your minds 
the conviction of this truth ; as this is the point in your political fortress af^ainst 
which the batteries of internal and external enemies will be most constantly and 
actively (though often covertly and insiduously) directed, it is of infinite mo- 
ment that you should properly estimate the immense value of your national 
Union to your collective and individual happiness ; that you should clierish a 
cordial, habitual, and immovable attachment to it ; accustoming yourselves to 
think and speak of it as of the Palladium of your political safety and prosperity ; 
watching for its preservation with jealous anxiety ; discountenancing whatever 
may suggest even a suspicion that it can in any event be abandoned ; and indig- 
nantly frowning upon the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion 
of our country from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now link to- 
gether the various parts. 

For this you have every inducement of sympathy and interest. Citizens by 
birth or choice, of a common country, that country has a right to concentrate 
your affections. The name of A.meiiica, which belongs to you in your national 
capacity, must always exalt the just pride of patriotism, more than any appella- 
tion derived from local discriminations. With slight shades of difference, you 
have the same religion, manners, habits, and political principles. You have 
in a common cause, fought and triumphed together ; the independence and lib- 
erty you possess are the work of joint councils, and joint efforts, of common 
dangers, sufferings, and successes. But these considerations, hoAvever power- 
fully they address themselves to your sensibility, are greatly outweighed by 
those Avhich apply more immediately to your interest — here every portion of our 
country finds the most commanding motives for carefully guarding and preserv- 
ing the Union of the whole. 

The North, in an unrestrained intercourse with the South, protected by the 
equal laws of a common government, finds in the productions of the latter, great 
additional resources of maritime and commercial enterprise and precious mate- 
rials of manufacturing industry. The Soidli, in the same intercourse, benefit- 
ing by the agency of the North, sees its agriculture grow and its commerce ex- 
pand. Taming partly into its own channels tlie seamen of the North, it finds 
its particular navigation invigorated ; and while it contributes, in different ways, 
to nourish and increase the general mass of the national navigation, it looks for- 
ward to the protection of a maritime strength, to which itself is unequally 
adapted. The East, in a like intercourse with the West, already finds, and in 
the progressive improvemement of interior communications, by land water, will 
more and more find a valuable vent for the commodities which it brings from 
abroad, or manufoctures at home. The West derives from the East supplies 
requisite to its growth and comfort— and what is perhaps of still greater consc- 



636 SUPPLEMENT. 

quence, it must of necessity owe the secure enjoyment of indispensable outlets 
for its own productions to the weight, influence, and the future maritime 
strength of the Atlantic side of the Union, directed by an indissoluble commun- 
ity of interest as one nation. Any other tenure by which the West can hold 
this essential advantage, whether derived from its own separate strength, or 
from an apostate and unnatural connection with any foreign power, must be 
intrinsically precarious. 

While, then, every part of our country thus feels an immediate and particu- 
lar interest in union, all the parties combined can not fail to find in the united 
mass of means and efforts, greater strength, greater resource, proportionably 
greater security from external danger, a less frequent interruption of their peace 
by foreign nations ; and, what is of inestimable value ! they must derive from 
union an exemption from those broils and wars between themselves, which so 
frequently afflict neighboring countries, not tied together by the same govern- 
ment : which their own rivalships alone would be sufficient to produce, but which 
opposite foreign alliances, attachments, and intrigues would stimulate and em- 
bitter. Hence likewise they will avoid the necessity of those overgrown mili- 
tary establishments, which, under any form of government, are inauspicious to 
liberty, and which are to be regarded as particularly hostile to Republican Lib- 
erty ; in this sense it is, that your Union ought to be considered as a main prop 
of your liberty, and that the love of the one ought to endear to you the preser- 
vation of the other. 

These considerations speak a persuasive language to every reflecting and vir- 
tuous mind, and exhibit the continuance of the Union as a primary object of 
patriotic desire. Is there a doubt whether a common government can embrace 
so large a sphere ? Let experience solve it. To listen to mere speculation in 
such a case were criminal. AVe are authorized to hope that a proper organiza- 
tion of the whole, with the auxiliary agency of government for the respective 
subdivisions, will afibrd a happy issue to the experiment. 'Tis well worth a fair 
and full experiment. With such powerful and obvious motives to Union, affect- 
ing all parts of our country, while experience shall not have demonstrated its 
impracticability, there will always be reason to distrust the patriotism of those 
who in any quarter may endeavor to weaken its bands. 

In contemplating the causes which may disturb our Union, it occurs as a 
matter of serious concern, that any ground should have been furnished for char- 
acterizing parties by geographical discriminations — northern and southern — 
Atlantic and western ; whence designing men may endeavor to excite a belief 
that there is a real difference of local interests and views. One of the expedi- 
ents of party to acquire influence within particular districts, is to misrepresent 
the opinions and aims of other districts. You can not shield yourselves too much 
against the jealousies and heart-burnings which spring from thase misrepresent- 
ations : they tend to render alien to each other those who ought to be bound 
together by fraternal affection. The inhabitants of our western country have 
lately had a useful lesson on this head : they have seen in the negotiation by 
the Executive, and in the unanimous ratification by the Senate, of the treaty 



WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 637 

■with Spain, and in the universal satisfaction at that event throughout the 
United States, a decisive proof how unfounded were the suspicions propatratcd 
among- them, of a policy in the General Government and in the Atlantic States 
unfriendly to their interests in regard to the J/ississijjpi : they have been wit- 
nesses to the formation of two treaties— that with Great Britain and that witli 
Spain — which secure to them every thing they could desire, in respect to our 
foreign relations, toward confirming their prosperity. Will it not be their wis- 
dom to rely for the i)rcscrvation of these advantages on the Union by which they 
were procured ? Will they not henceforth be deaf to those advisers, if such there 
are, who would sever them from their brethren, and connect them Avith aliens ? 

To the efficacy and permanency of your Union, a government for the whole 
is indispensable. No alliances, however strict, between the parts, can be an 
adequate substitute : they must inevitably experience the infractions and inter- 
ruptions which all alliances in all times have experienced. Sensible of this 
momentous truth, you have improved upon your first essay, by the adoj)tion of 
a Constitution of government better calculated than your former for an intimate 
Union, and for the efficacious management of your common concerns. This 
government, the offspring of our own choice, uninfluenced and unawed, adopted 
upon full investigation and mature deliberation, completely free in its principles, 
in the distribution of its powers, uniting security with energy, and containing 
wuthin itself a provision for its own amendment, has a just claim to your confi- 
dence and your support. Respect for its authority, compliance with its laws, 
acquiescence in its measures, are duties enjoined by the fundamental maxims of 
true Liberty. The basis of our political systems is the right of the people to 
make and to alter their Constitutions of Government ; but the Constitution which 
at any time exists, till changed by an explicit and authentic act of the whole 
people, is sacredly obligatory upon all. The very idea of the power and the 
right of the people to establish government, presupposes the duty of every indi- 
vidual to obey the established government. 

All obstructions to the execution of the laws, all combinations and associa- 
tions, under whatever plausible character, w'ith the real design to direct, con- 
trol, counteract, or awe the regular deliberation and action of the constituted 
authorities, are destructive of this fundamental principle, and of fatal tendency. 
They serve to organize faction, to give it an artificial and extraordinary force — 
to put in the place of the delegated will of the nation, the will of a party, often 
a small but artful and enterprising minority of the community ; and, according 
to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the public administration 
the mirror of the ill-concerted and incongruous projects of faction, rather than 
the organ of consistent and wholesome plans, digested by common councils, and 
modified by mutual interests. However combinations or associations of the 
above description may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely, in 
the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, am- 
bitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the peo- 
ple, and to usurp for themselves the reins of government : destroying afterward 
the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion. 



(338 SUPPLEMENT. 

Toward the preservation of your government, and the permanency of your 
present happy state, it is requisite, not only that you speedily discountenance 
irregular oppositions to its acknowledged authority, but also that you resist 
with care the spirit of innovation upon its principles, however specious the pre- 
texts. One method of assault may be to effect, in the forms of the Constitu- 
tion, alterations which impair the energy of the system, and thus to undermine 
what can not directly be overthrown. In all the changes to which you may be 
invited, remember that time and habit are at least as necessary to fix the true 
character of governments as of other human institutions — that experience is the 
surest standard by which to test the real tendency of the existing Constitution 
of a country — that facility in changes upon the credit of mere hypothesis and 
opinion, exposes to perpetual change from the endless variety of hypothesis and 
opinion ; and remember, especially, that for the efficient management of your 
common interests, in a country so extensive as ours, a government of as much 
vigor as is consistent with the perfect security of liberty, is indispensable. Lib- 
erty itself will find in such a government, with powers properly distributed and 
adjusted, its surest guardian. It is, indeed, little else than a name, where the 
government is too feeble to withstand the enterprise of faction, to confine 
each member of the society within the limits prescribed by the laws, and to 
maintain all in the secure and tranquil enjoyment of the rights of person and 
property. 

I have already intimated to you the danger of parties in the State, Avith par- 
ticular reference to the founding of them on geographical discriminations. Let 
me now take a more comprehensive view, and warn you in the most solemn 
manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party, generally. This spirit, 
unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature, having its root in the strongest 
passions of the human mind. It exists under different shapes in all governments 
more or less stifled, controlled or repressed ; but in those of the popular form, it 
is seen in its greatest rankness, and is truly their worst enemy. The alternate 
domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, nat- 
ural to party dissension, which, in different ages and countries, has perpetrated 
the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at 
length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries 
which result, gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in 
the absolute power of an individual ; and sooner or later, the chief of some pre- 
vailing fiction, more able or more fortunate than his competitor, turns this dis- 
position to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of public liberty. 

Without looking forward to an extremity of this kind (which, nevertheless, 
ought not to be entirely out of sight) the common and continual mischiefs of the 
spirit of party, are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people 
to discourage and restrain it. It serves always to distract the public councils 
and enfeeble the public administration. It agitates the community with ill- 
founded jealousies and false alarms ; kindles the animosity of one part against 
another; foments occasionally riot and insurrection. It opens the door to 
foreign influence and corruption, which find a facilitated access to the govern- 



WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS. G'39 

mcnt itself through the channels of party passions. Thus the policy ami the 
will of one country are subjected to the policy and the will of another. 

There is an opinion that parties in free countries arc useful checks upon tlic 
administration of the government, and serve to keep alive the spirit of liberty. 
This within certain limits is probably true ; and in governments of a monarch- 
ical cast, patriotism may look with indulgence, if not with favor, upon the spirit 
of party. But in those of the popular character, in govcrnnieiits purely elective, 
it is a spirit not to be encouraged. From their natural tendency, it is certain 
there will always be enough of that spirit for every salutary purpose. And 
there being constant danger of success, the efibrt ought to be by force of public 
opinion, to mitigate and assuage it. A fire not to be quenched ; it demands a 
uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a flame, lest, instead of warmino- 
it should consume. 

It is important, likewise, that the habits of thinking, in a free country, 
should inspire caution in those intrusted with its administration, to confine 
themselves within their respective constitutional spheres, avoiding, in the exer- 
cise of the powers of one department, to encroach upon another. The spirit of 
encroachment tends to consolidate the powers of all the departments in one, and 
thus to create, whatever the form of government, a real despotism. A just esti- 
mate of that love of power, and proneness to abuse it, which predominates in the 
human heart, is sujficient to satisfy us of this position. The necessity of recip- 
rocal checks in the exercise of political power, by dividing and distributing it 
into difierent depositories, and constituting each the guardian of public Avcal 
against invasions by the others, has been evinced by experiments ancient and 
modern : some of them in our country and under our own eyes. To preserve 
them must be as necessary as to institute them. If, in the opinion of the peo- 
ple, the distribution or modification of the constitutional powers be in any partic- 
ular wrong, let it be corrected by an amendment in the way which the Consti- 
tution designates. But let there be no change by usurpation; for though this, 
in one instance, may be the instrument of good, it is the customary weapon l)y 
which free governments are destroyed. The precedent must always greatly 
overbalance in permanent evil any partial or transient benefit which the use can 
at any time yield. 

Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion 
and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the 
tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human 
happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere 
politician, equally with the pious man. ought to respect and to cherish them. 
A volume could not trace all their connections with private and public felicity. 
Let it simply be asked where is the security for property, for reputation, for 
life, if the sense of religious obligation de.sert the oaths, which are the instru- 
ments of investigation in courts of justice; and let us with caution indulge the 
supposition, that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may 
be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, 
reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can pre- 



640 SUPPLEMENT. 

vail in exclusion or religious principle. It is substantially true, that virtue or 
morality is a necessary spring of popular government. The rule, indeed, ex- 
tends with more or less force to every species of free government. Who that 
is a sincere friend to it can look with indifference upon attempts to shake the 
foundations of the fabric ? 

Promote, then, as an object of primary importance, institutions for the gen- 
eral diffusion of knowledge. In proportion as the structure of a government 
gives force to public opinion, it is essential that public opinion should be en- 
lightened. As a very important source of strength and security, cherish public 
credit ; one method of preserving it is to use it as sparingly as possible ; avoid- 
ing occasions of expense by cultivating peace; but remembering, also, that 
timely disbursements to prepare for danger, frequently prevent much greater 
disbursements to repel it; avoiding, likewise, the accumulations of debt, not 
only by shunning occasions of expense, but by vigorous exertions in time of 
peace to discharge the debts which unavoidable wars may have occasioned, not 
ungenerously throwing upon posterity the burdens which we ourselves ought to 
bear. The execution of these maxims belongs to your Representatives, but it 
is necessary that public opinion should co-operate. To facilitate to them the 
performance of their duty, it is essential that you should practically bear in 
mind, that toward the payment of debts there must be revenue ; that to have 
revenue there must be taxes ; that no taxes can be devised which are not more or 
less inconvenient and unpleasant ; and the intrinsic embarrassment inseparable 
from the selection of the proper object (which is always a choice of difficulties) 
ought to be a decisive motive for the candid construction of the conduct of the 
government in making it, and for a spirit of acquiescence in the measures for 
obtaining revenue which the public exigences may at any time dictate. 

Observe good faith and justice toward all nations ; cultivate peace and har- 
mony with all; religion and morality enjoin this conduct ; and can it be that 
good policy does not equally enjoin it ? It will be worthy of a free, enlight- 
ened, and at no distant period, a great nation, to give to mankind the magnani- 
mous and too novel example of a people always guided by an exalted justice and 
benevolence. Who can doubt that in the course of time and things, the fruits 
of such a plan would richly repay any temporary advantages which might be 
lost by a steady adherence to it ? Can it be that Providence has not connected 
the permanent felicity of a nation with its virtue ? The experiment, at least, 
is recommended by every sentiment which ennobles human nuture. Alas ! is it 
rendered impossible by its vices ? 

In the execution of such a plan, nothing is more essential than that perma- 
nent inveterate antipathies against particular nations, and passionate attach- 
ments for others should be excluded ; and that, in place of them, just and 
amicable feelings toward all should be cultivated. The nation which indulges 
toward another an habitual hatred, or an habitual fondness, is in some degree a 
slave. It is a slave to its animosity or to its affection, either of which is suffi- 
cient to lead it astray from its duty and its interest. Antipathy in one nation 
against another, disposes each more readily to offer insult and injury, to lay 



WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 641 

hold of slight causes of umbrcage, and to be haughty and inti-actablc, when acci- 
dental or trifling occasions of dispute occur. Hence frequent collisions obstin- 
ate, envenomed, and bloody contests. The nation prompted by ill-will and 
resentment, sometimes impels to war the government, contrary to the best 
calculations of policy. The government sometimes participates in the national 
propensity, and adopts, through passion, what reason would reject; at other' 
times, it makes the animosity of the nation subservient to projects of hostility 
instigated by pride, ambition, and other sinister and pernicious motives. The 
peace often, sometimes perhaps the liberty, of nations has been the victim. 

So, likewise, a passionate attachment of one nation for another produces a 
variety of evils. Sympathy for the favorite nation, facilitating the illusion of 
an imaginary common interest, in cases where no real common interest exists, 
and infusing into one the enmities of the other, betrays the former into a par- 
ticipation in the quarrels and wars of the latter, without adequate inducement or 
justification. It leads also to the concessions to the favorite nation of priv- 
ileges denied to others, which is apt doubly to injure the nation making the con- 
cessions ; by unnecessarily parting with what ought to have been retained : and 
by exciting jealousy, ill-will, and a disposition to retaliate, in tlic parties from 
whom equal privileges are withheld — and it gives to ambitious, corrupted, or 
deluded citizens (who devote themselves to the favorite nation), ficility to be- 
tray or sacrifice the interests of their own country without odium, sometimes 
even with popularity ; gilding with the appearance of a virtuous sense of obliga- 
tion, a commendable deference for public opinion, or a laudable zeal for public 
good, the base or foolish compliances of ambition, corruption, or infatuation. 

As avenues to foreign influence in innumerable ways, such attachments are 
particularly alarming to the truly enlightened and independent patriot. How 
many opportunities do they afibrd to tamper with domestic factions, to practice 
the arts of seduction, to mislead public opinions, to influence or awe public 
councils ! Such an attachment of a small or weak, toward a great and powerful 
nation,' dooms the former to be the satellite of the latter. Against the insid- 
ious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure you to believe me, fellow citizens), the 
jealousy of a free people ought to be coxstaxtly awake ; since history and 
experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of repub- 
lican government. But that jealousy, to be useful, must be impartial : else it 
becomes the instrument of the very influence to be avoided, instead of a defense 
against it. Excessive partiality for one foreign nation, and excessive dislike of 
another, cause those whom they actuate, to see danger only on one side, and 
serve to vail and even second the arts of influence on the other. Real patriots, 
who may resist the intrigues of the favorite, are lial)le to become suspected and 
odious ; while its tools and dupes usurp the applause a. confidence of the peo- 
ple, to surrender their interests. The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to 
foreign nations, is, in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as 
little political connection as possible. So far as we have already formed en- 
gacrements, let them be fulfilled with perfect good faith. Here let us stop. 
^Europe has a set of primary interests, which to us have none, or a very 

41 



(342 SUPPLEMENT. 

remote relation. Hence she must be engaged in frequent controversies, the 
causes of which are essentially foreign to our concerns. Hence, therefore, it 
must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves bj artificial ties, in the ordinary 
vicissitudes of her politics, or the ordinary combinations and collisions of her 
friendships or enmities. Our detached and distant situation invites and enables 
us to pursue a different course. If we remain one people under an efficient 
government, the period is not far off when we may defy material injury from 
external annoyance ; Avhen avc may take such an attitude as will cause the neu- 
trality Avo may at any time resolve upon, to be scrupulously respected ; when 
belligerent nations, under the impossibility of making acquisitions upon us, will 
not lightly hazard the giving us provocation ; when Ave may choose peace or 
war, as our interest, guided by justice, shall counsel. 

Why forego the advantage of so peculiar a situation ? Why quit our own to 
stand upon foreign ground? Why, by interweaving our destiny Avith any part of 
Europe, entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of European ambition, rival- 
ship, interest, humor, or caprice? It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent 
alliances Avith any portion of the foreign world ; so far, I mean, as Ave are noAv at 
liberty to do it ; for let me not be understood as capable of patronizing infidelity 
to existing engagements. I hold the maxim no less applicable to public than to 
private affjirs, that honesty is always the best policy. I repeat it, therefore, let 
those engagements be observed in their genuine sense. But, in my opinion, it is 
unnecessary, and would be unwise to extend them. Taking care always to keep 
ourselves, by suitable establishments, on a respectable defensive posture, we may 
safely trust to temporary alliances for extraordinary emergences. 

Harmony, liberal intercourse with all nations, are recommended by policy, hu- 
manity, and interest But even our commercial policy should hold an equal and 
impartial hand ; neither seeking nor granting exclusive favors or preferences ; 
consulting the natural course of things ; diffusing and diversifying, by gentle means, 
the streams of commerce, but forcing nothing ; establishing with poAvers so dis- 
posed, in order to giA^e trade a stable course, to define the rights of our merchants, 
and to enable the government to support them, conventional rules of intercourse, 
the best that present circumstances and mutual opinion will permit, but temporary, 
and liable to be from time to time abandoned or varied, as experience or circum- 
stances shall dictate ; constantly keeping in vieAV, that it is folly in one nation to 
look for disinterested favors from another ; that it must pay with a portion of its in- 
dependence for Avhatever it may accept under that character ; that by such accept- 
ance, it may place itself in the condition of having given equivalent for nominal fa- 
vors, and yet of being reproached with ingratitude lor not giving more. There can 
be no greater error than to expect or calculate upon real fiiA'ors from nation to nation. 
'Tis an illusion which experience must cure, which a just pride ought to discard. 

In offering to you, my countrymen, these counsels of an old and affectionate 
friend, I dare not hope they Avill make the strong and lasting impression I could 
wish ; that they will control the usual current of the passions, or prcA'^ent our na- 
tion from running the course which has hitherto marked the destiny of nations : 
but if I may even flatter myself that they may be productive of some partial 



WASHINGTON'S PAREWELL ADDRESS. 043 

benefit, some occasional good ; that they may now and then recur to uioderalo 
the fury of party spirit, to warn against the miscliiefs of foreign intrifrues, and 
guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism : this ho[)e will be a full 
recompense for the solicitude for your welfare, by wliich they have been dictated. 
How far, in the discharge of my official duties, I have been guided by the princi- 
ples which have been delineated, the public records and other evidences of my 
conduct must witness to you and to the world. To myself the assurance of my 
own conscience is, that I have at least believed myself to be guided by them. 

Li relation to ttic still subsisting war in Europe, my proclamation of the 22d 
of April, 1793, is the index to my plan. Sanctioned by your approving'- voice 
and by that of your representatives in both Houses of Congress, the spirit of that 
measure has continually governed me ; uninfluenced by any attempt to deter or 
divert me from it. After deliberate examination, with the aid of the best YMiti 
I could obtain, I was well satisfied that our country, under all the circumstances 
of the case, had a right to take, and was bound in duty and interest to take, a 
neutral position. Having taken it, I determined, as far as should depend upon 
me, to maintain it with moderation, perseverance, and firmness. 

The consideration which respects the right to hold this conduct, it is not neces- 
sary on this occasion to detail. I will only observe, that according to my under- 
standing of the matter, that right, so far from being denied by any of the bellig- 
ei'cnt powers, has been virtually admitted by all. The duty of holding a neutral 
conduct may be inferred, without anything more, from the obligation which justice 
and humanity impose upon every nation, in cases in Avhich it is free to act, to 
maintain inviolate the relations- of peace and amity toward other nations. The in- 
ducements of interest for observing that conduct will be best referred to your own 
reflection and experience. With me, a predominant motive has been to endeavor 
to gain time to our country to settle and mature its yet recent institutions, and 
to progress, without interruption, to that degree of strength and consistency, 
which is necessary to give it, humanly speaking, the command of its own fortunes. 

Though in reviewing the incidents of my administration, I am unconscious 
of intentional error, I am, nevertheless, too sensible of my defects not to think 
it probable that I have committed many errors. Whatever they may be, I fer- 
vently beseech the Almighty to avert or mitigate the evils to which they may 
tend. I shall also carry with me the hope that my country will never cease to 
view them with indulgence ; and that after forty-five years of my life dedicated 
to its service, with an upright zeal, the fiiults of incompetent abilities will be 
consigned to oblivion, as myself must soon be to the mansions of rest. Relying 
on its kindness in this as in other things, and actuated by that fervent love to- 
ward it, which is so natural to a man Avho views in it the native soil of himself 
and his progenitors for several generations ; I anticipate with pleasing expecta- 
tion that retreat, in which I promise myself to realize without alloy, the sweet 
enjoyment of partaking, in the midst of my fellow-citizens, the benign influence 
of good laws under a free government — the ever-favorite object of my heart, 
and the happy reward, as I trust, of our mutual cares, labors, and dangers. 
, ,,,.,, GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

United States, September 17, 1<96. 



INDEX. 



Abenakes Indians. Tiibes of, 17, 22. 

Aberoeombie, General. His expedition, 191. Succeeds 
Lord Loudon as coinmander-in-chlef, 195. Portrait 
of, 191. 

Aboriginals of America, 9 — 33. Character of the, 16. 
Their lansuaaie and dialects, 12. Their tradition of a 
universal dL'luire, 11. Ledyard's observation respect- 
ing the, 11. Their agricultural productions, 13. Taken 
to England, 58. 

Acadie. Origin of the name, 5S. Settled by the 
French, 80, 121. Annexed to the British realm, 136. 
The name of, changed to Nova Scotiii, 132. Shirley 
and Lawrence's expedition against, 185. Desolated, 
in 175.5, 185. 

Accohannock Indians, 20. 

Accomac Indians, 20. 

Act of Supremacy, in 15.34, 75. 

Adams, Andrew. Signer of the Articles of Confedera- 
tion, 611. 

Adams, John. Defends Captain Preston, 222. Member 
of the first Continental Congress, 1774, 5SS. Author 
of the Petition to the King,'1774, 578. Suggests the 
appointment of Washington as commander-in-chief, 
238. On the Committee to draft the Declaration of 
Independence, 251, 252, 589. His account of the rea- 
sons why Jefferson was chosen to write the Declara- 
tion of Independence, 589, 590. Signer of the Declara- 
tion, 602. Chairman of the Board of War, 1776, 294. 
On the Committee to confer with Lord Howe, 257. 
Commissioner on the Treaty of Peace, 1782, 848. First 
Minister of the United States to Great Britain, 349. 
Vice-President of the United States, 364. Ke-electert 
Tice-President, 377. Candidate for the Presidency, 
1796 ; President of the United States, 1800, 382, 3S3. His 
Administration, 383 ss. His remarks on the commerce 
of Great Britain and the United States, 367 ; on 
Ames's eloquence, 330; and on James Otis's speech, 
1761, 213. Death of, 457. Portraits, autograph, and 
notice of, 383, 589. 

Adams, Johx Quinct. His letter to Mr. Jefferson on 
the embargo, 1809, 403. Envoy, 1812, 419. Commis- 
sioner at Ghent, 1S14, 44=5. Secretary of State, 1S17, 
447. His treaty with Spain, 1819, 451. President of 
the United States, 1825, 454. Portrait, autograph, and 
notice of, 454. 

Adams, Samuel, 219, 221, 227, 234. Member of the first 
Continental Congress, 1774, 538. Member of the Com- 
mittee on the Articles of Confederation, 604; signer 
of the Articles, 611. Signer of the Declaration of In- 
dependence, 602. 

Adams, Thomas. Signer of the Articles of Copfedera- 
tion, 611. 

Adams, William. British Commissioner at Ghent, 
1814, 443. 

Addison, B. C. Commissioner at Panama, 1826, 457. 

Address. To the Anglo-American colonies. 1774, 563 — 
572 ; written by William Livingston, 563. To the 
People of Great Britain, 1774. 557 — 562; written by 
John Jay, 557. To the Inhabitants of the Province 
of Quebec, 1774, 572 — 578 ; written by John Dickinson. 
572. 

Admiralty. Massachusetts Board of, 307. Continental 
Board of, 308. 

Africa. Navigators pass round the southern cape of, 36. 

Agriculture. 'Encouraged by Captain John Smith, 67, 
63. American, 447. 

Agua Nueva, 485. 

Aix-la- Chap die. Peace of, 138. Conference at, 1S54, 
respecting Cuba, 522. 

Alabama. State of, 448. 

Alabama Indians. In the Creek Confederacy, 1856, 30. 

Alatamaha liivcr, 99. 



Albany, or Fort Orange, 144. Dutcli fort and store- 
house at, 1614, 72, 140. Walloons at, 1623, 73. 

Albemarle, Duke of, 93. 

Alhemarle County, 97. Colony. 164. 

Albert, Prince. Chief patron of the World's Fair, 517. 

Aleutian Islan<ls, 11. 

Alexander tub Great, 11. Proposed colossal statue 
of, 60. 

Alexander, Emperor of Eussia, 431. Proposes to me- 
diate between Great Britain and the United States, 
419. Invites Professor Morse to be present at his 
Coronation, 1856, 508. 

Alexander, Sir William. Earl of Stirling, 80. See 
Stirling. 

Alexander, son of Massasoit, 124. 

Algerine Pirates. 331, 444, 44.5. 

Algiers. The United States at war with, in ISOl, 390; 
and in 1815, 445. Decatur at, 1815, 445. Treaty of 
Peace between the United States and, 1795, 381. 

Algonquin Indians. Discovery of the, 17. Their 
tiibes and territory, 17. History of the, 17 — 22. 
Language of the, 12. With Samuel Chaniplain, 1608, 
59. In the Indian confederacy to exterminate the 
white people, 1763, 13. Funeral ceremonies of the, 15. 
Population of the, in 1650, 31. See Lenni-Lenape. 

Alien Law of the United States, -336. 

AlleglKUiy Mountains. Extent and name of the, 19. 

Allen, Etuan, Colonel, 2-34. At Montreal, 240. Notice 
of, 240. 

Allen, Colonel. In the Indian War of 1813, 416, 418. 

Allen, Captain. Of the brig Argus, 429. 

Almaoro. His quarrel with Pizzaro, 44. 

Alsop, John. Member of the first Continental Con- 
gress, 1774, 588. 

AJmalfi. The magnetic needle known at, in 1-302, 39. 

Amboy, New Jersey. Origin of the name, 160. 

Ambrister. Robert C, 448, 451. 

Amelia Island, 448. 

America. Discovery of, -34. Origin of the name, 41. 
First colony in, 42. Intercourse of, with the Old 
World, long before the Christian era, 11. M.arvellous 
stories of the inhabitants of the interior of, 12. He- 
roic age of, 10. 

American. Agriculture, 447. Association, 228. Col- 
onies, cost of, to England, in sixty years, 206. Com- 
merce, protected in 1801, 390, 391. Manufactures, 447. 
System, 458, 459. Party, in 1856, 531 . 

Ames, Fisher. Portrait, autograph, and notice of, 830. 

Amherst, Jeffrey, Lord. His expedition against 
Louisburg, 196. Captures Tieonderoga, 199 ; and 
Crown Point, 199, 200. At Quebec, 203.' Portrait of, 
196. Notices of, 196, 199. 

Amidas, Philip. His expedition to America, 55. 

Ampudia, General, 481. Surrenders Monterey, 484. 

Amsterdam. Henry Hudson sails from, in" 1609, 59. 
Charter to merchants of, in 1014, 72. 

Andastes Indiana, 19, 23. Invaded bj' the Five Na- 
tions, 24. 

Anderson, John. The assumed name of Major Andr6, 
325. 

Anderso7i^s Constitutional Gazette, 595. 

Andre, Major. Arnold's bargain with, 325. Captured 
and executed ; memorial to, 326. 

Andros, Sir Edmund. Arrives at Boston, 129. Impris- 
oned, 130. Governor of New York, 147 ; and of New 
Jersey, 159, 160. Usurpations by, 155, 156. 

Androscoggin Indians, 22. 

Annapolis, Maryland. The Continental Congress meets 
at, .583. 

Annawan. Famous New England Indian, 21. 

Anne, Queen, 1-34. Death of, 136. 

Anne Boleyn, 75. 



INDEX. 



64.- 



r* 



Antiquities. American, 11. 

Anti-Bentism, 130. 

Anville, Due d', 13S. 

Apache. Jndidiis, 33. 

Appalachee Btn/. Nervaez at, 44. 

AjipdldcfiitDi. indiitns. Moore's expedition against 
the, in 1T(I3, 1G9, 170. 

AppiiUic/uaii. Mountains, 19. Do Soto crosses tlie, in 
1539, 44. 

Appomattox Hirer, 69. 

Ajiproval itnd Veto powers of tlie President of the 
I'niti'd States. 616. 

Aquii/di/ Idand. Indian name of Rhode Island, 91. 

Aquinunc/iioni. A name given to the Five Nations, 23. 

Aquitneck, or Aguitnet. The Indian name of Rhode 
Island, 91. 

Arbutiinot, Admiral. Besieges Charleston, 309, .310. 
Sails to New York, in 17S0, 313. Attacks the French 
fleet, 17S1, 3:30. 

Arbutiinot, Alexander, 44S, 4.51. 

Archdale, John, Governor, 165, 167. 

Argall. Samuel, Captain. Ilis piracies, 1613, 5S. Cap- 
tures Pocahontas, 70. Deputy-Governor of Virginia, 
70. Story of him and Dutch traders, in 1613, 72. 

"Argus'' brig, 4'29, 430. 

"Ariel" schooner, 420. 

Arista, General. At Metamoras, 4S1. 

Arkansas Indians, 32. 

Arkansas. State of. 451. Added to the Union, 469. 

Arlington, Earl of, 110. 

Armada, Spanish. Described, 57. 

Armistead, Major. At Fort M'Henry, 1S14, 4")". 

Armstrong, John, General, 193. Author of the New- 
burs .Vddress, 349. Secretary of War, 426. Notices 
of, 349, 426. 

Armstrong, John, Colonel, 19.3. 

Armi/. American. Condition of the, in 1776, 257, 261. 
Eaiik of officers in the, 3oS. Disbanded, 17S2, 350. 

Army, British. In America, number of men in the, 
253. Sums granted for the, 206. State of, in 177S. 2S5. 

Arnold, Benedict. Gov. of Rhode Island, 1663, 153. 

Arnold, Benedict, General. At Fort Stanwi.v. 27S ; 
Lake Champlain, 2:34,261; Penns House, 162; Phil- 
adelphia, 1773, 237; Point aux Trembles, 241; Que- 
bec, wounded, 241, 242 ; Ridgefleld, 270 ; Saratoga, 
232; Sillery, 24:3. Reprimanded bj-- Washington, 325. 
Treason of, 324, 325, 326. Escapes to the Vulture, 
326. Depredations committed bv, in Virginia, in 
17S1, 330; and in New England, 340. Portrait and 
autograph of, 325. Notices of, 324, 327. 

Arnold, James Robertson, Notice of, 326. 

Articles of Confederation of the United States, 17S2, 
266, 267,' .353, 355. Copy of the Articles, 604 ss. 

AsiiBURToN, Lord. His negotiations with Mr. Webster, 
1S42, 472. 

Ashe, General, 295. Anecdote of Mrs., and Colonel 
Tarleton, :3.32. 

Ashley Biver, 9S, 99. Origin of the name, 99. 

Asia. Inhabitiints of the north-eastern coast of, resem- 
ble Indi.ans of North America, 11. 

Assemblies. In America, arbitrary dissolution of, 596, 
597. 

Assembly House. At Chester, Pennsylvania, 97. 

Asainiboin Indians, 31, ;32. 

AsTOR, John Jacob. His trading station, 479. 

Athapasca.s Indians, 17. 

At/ios, Mount. 60. 

Atkinson, Henry, General. Drives hostile Indians be- 
yond the Mississippi ; notice of, 463. 

Ailixco. Defeat of Santa Anna at, in 1S47. 497. 

Atonement. Doctrine of, among Indians, 16. 

Attainder. Bill of. 619. 

AUiouandiron Indians, 2:3. 

Attucks, Crispus, 221. 

^!f(7W«to, Georgia. Captured by Lee, 1781, 336, 337. 

Austin, Ann, the Quakeress. Arrives at Boston, in 
1656, 122. 

Austin, Stephen F., 477. 

Austria. Aided by Russia, crushes the rebellion in 
Hungary, in 134S, 51S. The Consul-General of, seizes 
M.artin Koszta, in 1853,518. 

Anstrian Succession. War of the, 137. 

Autographs : 
Adams, John. 3S.3. 
Adams. John Quincv, 4.55. 
Ames, Fisher, :3S0. 
Arnold, Benedict, 32,5. 
Bainbkidge, Commodore, 391. 
Boone, Daniel, 929. 
BucuA.NAN, James, 532. 



Burr, Aaron, 397. 
Calhoun, John C, 45S. 
Carroll, Archbishop. .3.54. 
Carroll, Charle.s, 6nl. 
Chukch, Ben.iamin, Xti. 
Claiborne, Governor, 440. 
Clay, Henry, .5imi. 
Clarke, George R., General, 300. 
Clinto.n, De Witt, 4.56. 
COLDEN, Cadwalladkr, 216. 
CoxE, Tench, 869. 
Decatur, Lieutenant, 392. 
Dickinson, John, 219. 
Ellsworth, Oliver, :J60. 
Fillmore, Millard, 5n2. 
Franklin, Benjamin, 267. 
Fremont, John C, 4'-8. 
Fulton, Robert, 398. 
Greene, Nathaniel, General, 331. 
Ha.\iilton, Alexander, 361. 
Hancock, John, 231. 
Harrison, William II., 474. 
Hayne, Robert Y., 46:3. 
Henry, Patrick, 214. 
Hopkinson, Francis, 284. 
Jackson, Andrew. 460. 
Jackson, Ja.mes, 347. 
Jay, John, ;379. 
.Jefferson, Thomas, 889. 
Jones, Paul, 307. 

KiRKLAND, SaMUF.L, RcV., 25. 

Livingston, Edward. 452. 
Livingston, Robert E., 366. 
King, Rufus, 395. 
Macdonough, Commodore, 435. 
Madison, James, 40.5. 
Marion, Francis, 317. 
M.VRSiiALL, John, 351. 
Mather, Cotton, 1:33. 
Monroe, James, 447. 
Morris, Robert, 264. 
Motte, Rebecca, 3:35. 
Penn, William. 95. 
Perry, Commodore, 423. 
Pierce. Franklin, 514. 
PlNCKNEY, C. C, ZiA. 
PiNKNEY, William, 400. 
Polk, James K., 479. 
PiTN.'i.-M, Rupus, 362. 
Randolph, John, 40:3. 

RiTTENHOUSE, DaVID, 211. 

Rush, Benjamin, 251. 

Schuyler, Philip. 2:39. 

Shelby, Isaac, 417. 

Story, Joseph. 612. 

Stuyvesant, Peter, 142. 

Taylor, Zaciiary, 493. 

Thompson, Benjamin, 446. 

Thomson, Charles, 227. 

Trumbull, Jonathan, 323. 

Tyler, John, 476. 

Van Buren, Martin, 470. 

Van Rensselaer, Solomon, 413. 

AVashington, George, 365. 

W^ASiiiNGToN, Martha, 387. 

Webster. Daniel, 50:3. 

West. Benjamin, 210. 

Whipple, Abraham, 810. 

Williams, Rogei:, 90. 

Wintiirop, John, 117. 
Ant<issee, Alabama. Battle at, 1818, 428. 
Avalon. Territory of. 81. 

Avenger of Blood. Indian custom concerning the, 140. 
Axel, Count. 93. 
Ayllon. See 1)"Ayllon. 
Ayscuf, Sir George, lOS. 
Azt^cs.Thc. Empire of, 10. Colossal statuary of, 10. Their 

tradition of a universjil deluge, 11. Account of, 493. 

Bacon, Lord. His unsuccessful e.xpedltion to New- 

foundhind, in 1610, 74. 

Bacon, Nathaniel, 110, 111. HLs e.xploits. 111, 112, 

Badger George E. Secretary of the Navy, 1841. 474. 

Biihanut Islands, 98. The land first discovered by 
C'dunibus, 4o. 

Bail. In the United States 630. 

Bainbridgf, rominodore. Protects American com- 
merce, in l<n\. :39ii. .391. Captured by Tripolitans, in 
1S03, 391. Portrait, autograph, and notice of, 891. 



646 



INDEX. 



I^VLBOA. Picture of. in armor, 42. His fate, 42. 
JiALDWIN, Ar.RAIlAM, 35G, 6'29. 
liALFOUR, Golonol. At Cliarlcst(H), "37. 

Baltimoek, Lord. Propriitor of Muiyland, 102. Sum 
spent by, in colonizing Maryland. 2i)9. 

Baltimore, Maryland. Captain John Smith eats corn 
on the site of. 67. General Ross approaches, in 1S14, 
4:36, 437. Congress meets at, 1776, 202. 5SS. 

Bancroft, Gboruf.. Secretary of the Navy, 1S45, 478. 
His History of the United States, 60. His estimate of 
the Aboriginal population of North America, in 1050, 
31. 

Banister, John, 611. 

Bank. Of Massachusetts, 872. National, 372. Of New 
York, 872. Of North America, 329, 372. 

Banner. Of the expedition of Columbus, described, 40. 

Baptixts, The. Compelled to pay fines, in Virgiuia, 
1660, 110. 

Barbary Powers. The United States at war with, in 
1801, i390. 

Barbour, James. Secretary of War, 1825, 454. 

Barcelona. Columbus's journey from Palos to, 40. 

Barclay, EoBERT. Governor of New Jersey, 160. His 
"Apology for the Quakers," 160. 

Barclay, Commodore, 420. His tribute to Commodore 
Perry, 423. 

Barlow, Arthur. His expedition to America, 55. 

Barlow, Jof.l, 399. 

Barney, Commodore. His flotilla, in 1814, 436. Notice 
of, 436. 

Barnwell, Colonel, 168. 

Buroriie.1. In England, account of, 62, 63. 

Barre, Colonel, 217, 22.5. Opposes the measures of 
Great Britain respecting America, in 1777, 282. 

Barron, Commodore, 401. 

Barry, William T. Postmaster-General, in 1829, 461. 

Barry, Captain, .308. 

Bartlett, Josiaii. Signer of the Articles of Confeder- 
ation, 611; and of the Declaration of Independence, 
602; and the Constitution of the United States, 629. 

Barton, William, Colonel, 271. 

Bartram, John, 210. 

Bassett, Kioiiard, 356. 

Bavaria. Contest of the Elector of, with Maria The- 
resa, 137. 

Bayard, James A. Envoy, in 1812, 419. Commissioner 
at Glient. 443. 

Bayard, William. Member of the Stamp Act Con- 
gress, 550. 

Bear Tribe of Indians, 15. 

Beaufort Island, 98. 

Beau.marciiais, M.. 260. 

Beaver. Figure of a, on the seal of New Netherland, 
73. 

Bedell, Colonel, 240. 

Bedford, Gunning, .jr., 356, 029. 

Beekman's Swamp, l48. 

Beers, Captain, 126. 

Behriiig Strait, 11. 

Belcher, Governor, 136. Patron of Nassau Hall Col- 
lege, Princeton, 178. 

Belgium. Treaty of the United States with, 469. 

Belknap, .Jeremy, Dr., 57. 

Bell, John. Secretary of War, in 1841, 474. 

BeU, Church. Removed from Deerfteld to Caughna- 
waga, 135. 

Bellehle, Straits of, 43. 

Bellomont, Earl of, 149. 

Belmont, Augusts, 611. 

Belt, Wami)um, 13. 

Bemis's Heights. Battle of, 281. 

Hrnnet, Richard. Governor of Virginia, 1652, 109. 

Bergen, New Jersey. 93, 94. 

Berkeley, Lord. Purchases New Jersey, 159. Sells 
West Jersey to the Quakers, 95. 

Berkeley, Sir AVilliam, 98. Governor of Virginia, 97, 
108. His del.ay in defending Virginia against the 
Seneca Indians, 110. Controlled by the popular 
will. 111. His flight from Bacon, 111, 112. His 
cruelties, 112. Rcpro.iched by Charles II., 112. 

Berkeley, Admiral, 401. 

Berkeley. Dean. His lands in Rhode Island, 158. No- 
tice of, 158. 

Bermuda Inlands. Gates, Newport, and Somers wreck- 
ed on one of the. 16o9, 08. 

Bernadotte. With his Swedish army, 1814, 431. 

Bernard, Governor. 220. 

Berrian, John M'PiiEnsi>N. Attorney-General of the 
United States, in 1829.461. 

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. La Fayette at, 273. 



Beverly, Robert, Ma.ior, 112. 

Bible, The. The statute-book in Connecticut, 1C39, 154. 

BiuDLE, Edward. Member of the first Continental 
Congress, 1774, 588. 

BiDDLE, Captain, 308. 

Bill of Rights, of the Continental Congress, 228. 

Billinge, Edward, 160. 

BiLLOP, Captain, 257. 

Bills in Congress, how originated, etc., 616. 

Bingham, Captain, 4o7. 

Biography, American, by Jarcd Sparks, 60. 

Birmingliain Meeting-IIouse, 273. 

Black feet Indians. 33. 

Black Hawk, Sac chief, 18, 82, 463. Captured, in 182-3, 
468. Portrait of, 18. 

Black Hawk W<ir, 463. 

Black Rock Village. Burnt, in 181.3, 427. 

Blackstone, William, Rev., 89. 

^'Black Warrior" steamboat, 521. 

Blair, .James. Signer of the Constitution of the 
United States, 629. 

Blair, John, Judge, .356, 869. 

Blakely, Captain, 440. 

Bland, Richard. Member of the first Continental 
Congress, 588. 

Blennerhasset. Aaron Burr's conduct toward. 897. 

Block, Adrian, the navigator, 72, 82. Explorations 
and discoveries by, 72. 

Block irou.se. Burnet's, 192. 

Block Island. Origin of the name of, 87. 

Bloemart, Sa.muel, 189. 

Bloody Creek, Connecticut, 126. 

Bloody Marsh, Florida, 178. 

Bloody Pond, 190. 

Bloomfield, Joseph, 410. 

Blount, William, 355, 356, 629. 

Bluciier. With his Prussian army, in 1814, 481. 

Blythe, Captain, 480. 

Board. Of Admiralty: see Admiralty. Of Trade, 
rejects the proposed Union of the C^olonies, 1S3, 184. 
Of Trade and Plantations, 134. Of War, appointed by 
Congress, in 1776, 294. 

Bohemia. Reformation of the Church in, 62. 

Bolivar, General. President of Colombia, 457. 

Bonaparte, Napoleon. Emperor, 399. His decrees 
.at Berlin, 400; Milan, 402; and Rambouillet, 406. 
His tribute to Washington, 387. His treaty with the 
irnited States, in 1810, 886. His remark on the Dec- 
laration of Independence, 603. 

'■^Bonhomme Richard.''^ Paul Jones's ship, 307. 

Booksellers. In the American colonies, 179. 

Boone, Daniel. Portrait, autograph, and notice of, 300. 

Borden, Joseph. Member of the Stamp Act Congress, 
556. 

BoscAWEN, Admiral, 189, 195, 196. 

Boston, Massachusetts. Norwegians, in 1002, explore 
the region near, 85. Founded, 118. Expedition from, 
to Port Royal, 185, 186. Revolutionary proceeding 
at, in 1770, 221. Boston Port Bill, 225, 220, 590. Bos- 
ton Neck, 229. Fortified by Gage, 229. Cannonaded, 
in 1776, 247. Evacuated by the British, in 1776, 247. 
Rejoicing at, on account of "liberty in France, 877. 

Boundary hctwaen Maine and New Brunswick, 472. 

Bounties. Paid on American commodities, 206. 

Bouquet, Colonel, 19, 198. At Pittsburg, 205. Notice 
of, 205. 

Bourbon Dynn.ity, 431. 

BOURGAINVILLE, M. de, 202. 

RowiioiN, Governor, .353. 

BowLER, Metcalf. Member of the Stamp Act Con- 
gress, 556. 

Bowling Green, The, in New York city, 72. 

Bows and Arrows, Indian, 14. 

'•Boxer" brig, 430. 

Boyd, Colonel, 295. 

Boyd, John. 319. 

Bozman. Ilis History of Maryland, cited, 151. 

Braceti. Battle of, 488. 

Braddock, Edward, Gener.al, 184. His meeting with 
the Governors of the colonies, 1S.5. His expedition to 
Fort Du Quesne, 186. Death of, 186. Shot by Thomas 
Faucett, 186. 

Bradford, William. Governor. 11,5, 118. 

Bradford, William. Editor of the New York Gazette, 
150. 

Bradstreet, Colonel, 197, 198. At Detroit, 205. 

'"Bramble," schooner, 44^3. 

Branch, .John. Secretary of the Navv. in 1829, 461. 

Brandywine. Battle of, 278. Map of the battle, 278. 

^'■Bu7idywine" frigate, 453. 



INDEX. 



r.-i7 



Brant, Joseph. The famous Mohawk, 20. ITis hostile 
nieasiiir.s, in 1T7S, 291. Not at Forty Fort, 'JOU, 291. 
Portrait of. 27S. 

Brass. Ancient ornaments made of, found in America, 
11. 

Braxton', Carter. Signer of the Declaration of Indo- 
pondonci', 002. 

Brazil. Cabot explores the coast of, 47. 

Bkkarly, David, 356. Siciier of the Constitution of 
the United States, 629. 

rSRECKKsiuDr.!-, JouN 0. Vice-Presidcnt of the United 
States, l^r)7, Sol. 

BreeiVs Hill, 28-t. 

Bkent, Ciiaklks. Governor at Santa Fe ; murdered, 
489. 

Brewster, Elder, 77, 116. 

Bkevmax, Colonel, 277. 

Brulgewater. Battle at, in 1814, '&^. 

Bridi'ORT, Lord. His tribute to Washincrton, 8S8. 

Bright, Kev. Mr. Conies to America, in 1629, 117. 

BriMdl, England. Cabot sails from, for America, in 
1497. 46. 

Britixli. Agents among the Indians, after 178.% 378. 
Fleet, depredations by the, in the United States, in 
ISiy, 4:^1) ; and in 1814, 436, 437. Fleet on Lake 
Chainplain, captured, iu 1814, 435. Claims to Oregon, 
479. 

Britiuli (r'ovenrinent : see Great Britain. 

Bro(t(lir<iij. Ni'u- York city, 72. 

Brook, Siit Isaac, General, 4U, 414. 

Bkodiiead. His History of the State of New York, 72. 

BnooKfi, Lord, 85. 

BiiooKfi Colonel. Succeeds General Ross, in 1814, 437. 

Brookfield, Connecticut, 126. 

Brooklyn, New York. Walloons at, in 1623, 73. 

Brown, Jacoh. Delegate from Delaware, to the Con- 
vention on the Articles of Confederation, 356 ; signs 
them, 629. 

Brown, Jacob, General. At Chippewa, 433. At Pres- 
cott, 426,427. At Sacketfs Harbor, 426, 4;52. Portrait 
of, 4;32. Notice of, ^3. 

Brown, John. Secretary of the Continent.al Board of 
Admiralty, 1779, SOS. 

Brown, Major. At Fort Brown, 482. Mortally wounded, 
492. 

Brown, Gcner.al (British), .336, 3.37. 

Browne, John and Samuel, 119. 

Bryan, George. Member of the Stamp Act Congress, 
556. 

Buchanan, James. Secretary of State, in 1845, 47S. At 
the Ostend Conference, in 1854, 522. President of the 
United States, 1857, 581. Portrait, autograph, and 
notice ot; 532. 

Buenn Vi.sta. Battle of, 486. 

Buffalo, New York. Burnt, in 1S13, 427. 

Buford, Abraham, Colonel. Histrooi)s slaughtered by 
Tarleton, 1780, 313. 

Bull, Captain. Anecdote of him and Andros, 156. 

Bull, Papal. Described, 46. The Golden Bull of 
Charles I\^, 46. In favor of Portugal and Spain, 46. 

Bull. Brouirht to America by Columbus, in 1493, 41. 

Bullet. See Hiher Bullet. 

Bunker Hill, 234. Battle of, 236. Map of the battle, 
235. 

Bunker Tlill Monvment, 233. 

Burffe.sse.% The Virsinia House of, 106. 

BiiRGOYNE, John. General. 2;U. At Fort Edward, 276, 
277. At Lake Cluunplain, 272. At St. John, 271. At 
Ticonderoga, 275. Surrenders at Saratoga. 28!. Dines 
with General Schuyler, 281. Portrait Of. 278. No- 
tice of, 282. 

Burial-Place. Indian, 1.5. 

Bt-KK?:, EwMUND. 217. 221. 282. 

Burlinoton. Count Donop ut. 262. 

Burnet, Peter H. Cliicf .rustice of California, 499. 

Burnet. Justice, of Derbv. 94. 

•■'Burm^ Riot," The. at BoVton, 18.54, 521. 

Burr, Aaron. In Arnold's expedition to Quebec, 241. 
Candidate for the Presidencv of the United States, in 
l>i00, 388. Vice-President, 388. Not re-nominated, 
896. Hisdnel with Hamilton. .361, -396. Proposed in- 
vasion of Mexico, 306. Tried for treason, 1807, 398. 
His conduct toward Blennerhasset..397. Portraitand 
autograph of. .397. Notice of. 396. The widow of. 259. 

Burrinoton. George. Gov. of North Carolina, 171. 

Burritt. Eliiiu. His .speech at the opening of the 
World's Fair. 185.3,517. 

Burroughs, Rev. Mr. Executed as a wizard. 1-33. 

Burrows, Lieutenant. Captures the British brig 
''Boxer;' 432. 



Bushneli, DAvin. His torpedo, 2.52. 

Bute, Lord, 213. 

Butler, C.eneral, As.',. At Monterey. 4S4. 

Butler, Ben.iamin 1'. Attorney-General of the United 

States, in 183s, 470. 
Butler, John, Colonel, 278, 290. 
Butler. Pierce, 356, 629. 
Butler, Walter N., 291. 

Butler, Zehulon, Colonel, 290. Notice of, 290. 
Byron, Admiral, 3u5. Succeeds Lord Howe, 292. 

Carot, George. President of t'no Hartford Convention, 
444. 

Carot, John. Notice of, 60. 

Cahot Sebastian. His commission from Hcnrv VIL, 
46. Sails for America, in 1497, 46. Hi.-, second expe- 
dition, in 1498, 47. Discovers Labra.lor, Newfound- 
land, and portions of New England, 41. Explores tho 
coast from Labrador to the Carolinjis, 47. Navigates, 
in 1517, the northern coast of Hudson's Bav. ' Ex- 
plores, in 1526, the coast of Brazil. 47. Discov^^s 
the Rio de la Plata, 47. Notices of, 47, 00. I'ortrait 
of, 46. 

Cadwalader, Lambert, Colonel, 355. 

Cadwallader, John, General. At Trenton. 263, 263. 

Cahokia. Capture.l by Major Clarke, 303. 

Cnhokin Indians. 19. 

Caldwell, Rev. Dr., 3.^. 

Caldwell, James. Killed at Boston, in 1770, 221. 

''Caleflonian;" The. One of Perry's vessels, 420. 

Calef, Mr., of Boston. His controversy with Cotton 
Mather, 133. 

Calhoun, John C. His view.s of the War of 1812. 409. 
Secretary of War, 1817, 447. Vice-President of thn 
United States. 454, 459. Portrait, autograph, and no- 
tice of, 458, 459. 

California. Number of Indians in, in 185.3. 3-3. Cop- 
quest of, 4S7. A Territory of the United Stater, 497. 
Admitted to the Union, 50l. 

Calumets, Indian, 14. 

Calvert, Cecil. Portr.ait of, 81. 

Calvert, Charles. 1.5.3. 

Calvert, Georcje, Lord Baltimore, 81. 

Calvert, Leonard. v2, 151. 

Calvin, John, the French Reformer, 75. 

Cambaceres, M., 886. 

Camrridge, England. Meeting at, respecting the Ply- 
mouth Colony, lis. 

Camhriil/je. Massachusetts. Founded, 118. The col- 
lege founded at, 121. Provincial Congress at, 230. 

Camden, New Jersey, 93. 

Campbell, James. Postmaster-General, 1853,515. 

Campbell, James S., Judge, 291. 

Campbell, Willia.m. Lord. His arbitrary measures, 
599. 

Campbell, William, Colonel. At King's Mountain, 
319 

Campbell, Colonel (British), 291, 292. 294. 

Canada, Attempted conquest of, 16.S9, 131. Proposed 
conquest of, 1711, 136. Pitt's scheme for conquering, 
1759, 199. Measures for the conquest of, 1760, 203, 204. 
End of French dominion in, 170:5, 22, Address of 
Congress to the ])eople of, 239. Proposed invasion of, 
1778, 194. Hull's invasion of, 410. Inv.asion of, 1S12, 
412. Wellington's troops sent to, 1814, 4.32. Revolu- 
tionary movement in, in 1837, 471, 472. 

Canadian Hirer. 516. 

Cananilaiqua VilUtge, 59. 

Can<irii Mauds. Columbus delayed at the, 89. 

CanonViiet. Treatv of Pe.aco with, 125. His perfidy 
and d.ath, 127. 

Caxonicus, Narraganset chief, 21, 90, 91, 115. Hum- 
bled bv Governor Bradford, 11.5. 

Canterburij, Archbishop of. His authority in .Vnieric*, 
121. 

Cantons, Indian, 17. 

Canute. Placed upon the throne of Alfred by the Sea 
Kings, 35. 

Cape. Ann, colony at 116. Bajndor. 36. Breton, 137, 
138. Charles, orisin of the name, 64. Cabot passe^ 
in 1497,46. Cod, orifrin of the name. .57. Farewell, 
46. Fear, origin of the n.ime. .\5. Of (Joorl Hope, 
origin of the name. .37. Henlopin. 93. Hi-nry, origin 
of the name, 64. M.iy, 35; purchase of, and origin of 
the name. 94. 

Capes of Virginia, 59. 

Capital Crim^. in the United States, 630. 

Capitol of tho United States, 388, 509. 

Caramelli, IlAMhrr, -392. 395. 

CaraceU Light Spanish coasting vessels, 89. 



648 



INDEX. 



Carcass. Described, 23fi. 

Cardon, Lord. Settles in South Carolina, 166. 

Carleton, Sir Guy. Governor of Canada, 373. At St. 
John's, 240. At Quebec, 241. His propositions of 
reconciliation, 17S2, 345. 

Carlisle, Earl of. Commissioner to America, 1T73, 2S6. 

Carolina. Araidas and Barlow off the shores of, 55. 
Colonies founded in, 62. Origin of the name, 50, 55, 
9S. The colonies of, 9T, 163, 164 ; separated, 171. 
Grant from Parliament to, in 1757, 206. Opposes tax- 
ation, 223. 

Carolina. Fort, 9S. 

"Caroline" steamboat, 472. 

Carpenters' Hall. Philadelphia, 2SS, 588. 

Carr, Sir Kobert, 123. 

Carroll, Charles, of Carrollton, 252. Signer of the 
Declaration of Independence, 602. Portrait and auto- 
graph of, 601. Notice of, 603. 

Carroll, Daniel, 856. Signer of the Articles of Con- 
federation, 611 ; and of the Constitution of the United 
States, 629. 

Carroll, John, Archbishop. Apostolic- Vicar, 17S6, 
354. Portrait, autograph, and notice of, 354. 

Carteret, Sir George, 98, 159. Purchases New Jer- 
sey, 159. 

Carteret, Philip. Governor of New Jersey, 94, 159. 

Carteret County Colontj, 98, 164, 165. 

Cartier, Ja.mes. His expeditions, 4S, 49. Picture of 
his ship, 48. 

Cartwright, George, 123. 

Carver, John, Governor, 77, 78. His interview with 
Massasoit, 114. His chair, 79. Death of, 115. Notice 
of, 78. 

Cascades, Oregon. Attacked by Indians, 1856, 523. 

Casco Village. Attacked by the French and Indians, 
131. 

Cass, Lewis, General At Detroit, 424. Candidate for 
the Presidency, 1848, 493. 

Ca-ttile. Emulates the Italian cities in trade, 36. 

Castillon, General. Deserts Colonel Walker at Eivas, 
52.5. 

Casting, Baron de, 134. 

Caxtine. Admiral GriflBth seizes the town of, 1814, 438. 

Castle Willi am, 220. 

Castro, Geni-ral. Opposes Fremont, in 1856, 4S7. 

Caswell, Richard, 356, 588. 

Catacombs. Ancient, in America, 11. 

Catawba Indians, 26, 27. Their territory, 26. Expel 
the Shawnees, in 1672, 26. Invaded, 170i, by the Five 
Nations, 25, 26. At war with the Tuscaroras, 1712, 26. 
Join the conspiracy to exterminate the Carolinians, 
27. Assailed by the Cherokees, 27. Allies of tlie 
North Carolina Colony, 168, 170. Population of, in 
1650, 31. Join the Americans in the Revolutionary 
War, 27. Eloquent appeal of a warrior of the, to the 
Legislature of South Carolina, 27. Language of the, 
12. 

Catawba Rirer, 27. 

Catharine of Arragon, 75. 

Catharine, Queen of Russia, 266. 

Cathai/, The country of, 38. 

Cat Idand : see Guanahama. 

Oatlin. His Letters and N(}tes, 33. 

Cattle. The first introiluced into Connecticut, 86. 
Taken to Newfoundliind, and Nova Scotia, 47. 

Caughnawaga. The cliurch-bell at, 135. 

Caunbitant. New England Indian eajitain, 21. 

Cayuga Indians, 2-3. Hi-a-wat-ha's addn-^i-; to the, 24. 

Ce)ums. The first, of the United States, 1791, 371. Of 
the United States, in 1800, 388. 

Cent. United States coin, 372. 

Central America. League in, against Walker, 1856, 527. 

Cerro Gordo, 489. Battle of, 490. 

CH.4.BON, Admiral. Encourages settlements in New 
France, 48. 

Chad's Ford. Washington's head-quarters at, 274. 

Chair. Governor Carver's, 79. 

Champe, Serjeant. Attempts to capture Arnold, 326. 

CiiAMPLAiN, Samuel. His expedition, 59. Discovers 
Lake Champlain, 59 ; and Lake Huron, 59. His pub- 
lications, .59. 

Champlain, Lake. Discovered, 59. See Lake Cham- 
plain. 

Chanco. a converted Indian, saves Jamestown, Vir- 
ginia, 106. 

Chandler, General. Notice of, 426. 

Chapin, E. H., Rev. His speech, at the opening of the 
World's Fair, 18.53, 517. 

Charles I., of England, 74. Acces.sion of, 107, 116. His 
intolerance, 116. His character, 108. 



Charles II., of England. Restoration of, 109. His prof- 
ligacy and jirodigality, 110. His gifts to Lord Cul- 
pepper, and the E.arl of Arlington, 110. Grants a new 
charter to Connecticut, 155. Declares the Mass.achu- 
setts charter void. 129. Makes judges independent of 
the people, 110. Reproaches Governor Berkeley, 112. 
Gives New Netherland to his brother James, 144. 
Death of, 113. The charter of Connecticut contains a 
portrait of, 155. 

Charles IX., of France, 49, 51. His commission to 
Coligny, 50. 

Charles Edward, son of James II., 1.34 

Charleston, South Carolina. Laid out by Culpepper, 
165. Map of, in 1680, 166. Founded, 99, 117. French 
and Spanish expedition against, 169. Siege of, in 1780, 
309, .311. Map of the siege, 311. Captured by the 
British, 1780, 312. Evacuated by the British, 1782, 348. 
Oglethorpe at, in 1732, 100. Refuses to allow tea to be 
sold, 1TT3. 224 

C/uirlesto/rn. Massachusetts, 236. 

Charter OaK; The. Picture of, 156. 

Charter of Liberties. William Penn's, 162. Of New 
York. 147. 

Chase, Samuel. Member of the first Continental Con- 
gress, 1774, 588. Signer of the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, 602. Member of the Committee of Congress, 
on Slavery, 1784, 5.34. 

Chatha.m, The Earl of, 218. His conciliatory measures, 
231. His denunciations in the House of Lords, 282. 
His letter to Sayre, 228. His opinion of the Conti- 
nental Congress, 22S. Death of, 286. Portrait and no- 
tice of, 217. See Pitt. 

Chattahoochee Biver, 23. 103. 

Chauncey, Commodore, 420, 425. 

mepultefHc. Battle of, 1S47, 494 

Cher aw Indians, ?0. 

Cherry Valley. Devastated, in 1778, 290. 

'■•Cherub''' sloop-of-war, 431. 

Cherubusco. General Scott at, in 1847, 493. 

Cheeseman. General Montgomery's Aid, 242. 

Cherokee Indians. De Soto penetrates the country of 
the, 44. Their territory, and character, 27. Foes of 
the Shawnees, 27. At war with the Tuscaroras, 27 ; 
Five Nations, 25, 27; Six Nations, 25; Catawbas, 27. 
Among the confederates against the Carolinians, in 
1715, 27. Allies of the English against the French, 27. 
Assisted at the capture of Fort Du Quesne. 1758. 27. 
Migrations of the, 28, 162. Allies of the North Caro- 
lina Colony, 168. Allies of the Americans in the 
Revolutionary War, 23. Population of the, in 1650, .31. 
Civilization of the, 28. Friends of the United States, 
in 1812, 28. Assist the United States in subjugating 
the Creeks, 28. Language, 12. Newspaper, 28: see 
Guess, George. 

Cherokee Phoenix,. An Indian newspaper, 28. 

Chesapeake Bay. Explored by Captain John Smith, 
67. Gosnold in the, in 1607, 64. Indians on the, 20. 

"Chesapeake'' frigate, 401, 429. 

Chester, Pennsylvania. William Penn at, 97. 

Chestnut-street, Philadelphia. Origin of the name, 162. 

Cheraur-de-frise. Described, 274/ At Charleston, in 
1780, 311. 

Chery^ Chase. 2-33. 

Chen'ini/ Tobacco. Invented by white people, 14. 

Cliirkaltaminy Rirer. 66. 

Chirkasairfndians.ii^. De Soto on the territory of the, 
in 1541, 44. Their territory, 30. Early friends of the 
English, 30. 

Chickasaw Rirer, 29. 

CiiicKELEY', Sir Henry', 11.3. 

Cliiefs. Indian military leaders, 14, 16. 

C/iihunhua. The boundary line of New Mexico, 525. 

Child. Si'undinavi.an, born on Rhode Island, 85. 

CiiiLDS, Colonel. At Puebla, 494. 

Chimney Point, 139. 

Chinese', The. Possessed, they say, the knowledge of 
the magnetic needle, more than 1100 B.C., 89. In 
California, for gold, 497. 

Chipj>e>r,( Indians, 17. Deadly enemies of the Potta- 
wattoiiiii-s. IS. Their territory, 18. .Toined by the 
Ottdwas, 1>; and by the Wyandots, 24. Conspire 
against the En£rHsh,"in 1763, 2!i5. 

Chippewa. Battle of, in 1814, 4.33. 

Choctaw Indians, 29. Their territory, character, and 
micrration, 30. 

C/ioiran Indians, 2S. 

C/ion-an Hirer, 97. 

Christians, Indian. Converted by French .Jesuits, 23. 

( 'iiRiSTiN A. Daughter of Gustavus Adolphus, 93. 

Christina, Delaware, 93. 



INDEX. 



(U9 



Chronicle, William, Major, 319. 

C/iri/nler's Field. Battle of, in 1818, 427. 

CiiuKCH, Benj.\min, Captain, 127. His sword, 128. 
Death of, 127. Portrait and autograph of, 1'2S. 

Chtirch of Englanil. In the reign of Charles II., 110. 
E.stablished in Marvlanil, 1.54. In North Carolina, 
168. In South Caro'liiia, 1G9. 

Church <nii/ .State. In Massachusetts, 118. 

(Viurc/i, The, at Jamestown, 112. 

ChurchiU'n /iirer, 17. 

Churchmen. Persecuted by Puritans, 119. 

Cincinnati Society. Instituted, in 17S'2, .352. Order 
of the, .S52. 

Cincimiatus, the Roman, 3.')3. 

Cipher Writing. Of the New York tories. 309. 

Citizens of the United States. Privileges of. G27. 

City //fill, of New York, 8«t;. City llall Park, New 
York, 148. 

Civilization. Now period of, in America, 52. 

Claiuok.nk, William C. C, Governor. Portrait and 
autograi)h of, 44(». Notice of, 441. 

Clam Shell.'). Used in making wauipum, 13. 

Cfan.i, Indian, 17. 

Clarendon, Lord, 98. 

Clarendon County Colony, 9S. 

Clark, .\bbaham. Delegate from New .Tersey, to the 
Convention on the Articles of Confederation, 856. 
Signer of the Declaration of Independcnci', (jii2. 

Clarke, Georoe E., Gener.al. His oi)oratioiis in South 
Carolina and Georgia, 314, 315, 819, :«6. His expedi- 
tion against the Indians, 30.3. Captures Kaskaskia, 
and Cahokia, 3U3. Portrait and autograph of, 800. 
Notice of, 303. 

Clarke, Captain. His tour of exploration with Cajitain 
Lewis, in 1S04, 479. 

Clark's History of Onondago county, cited, 28. 

Clarke, .loHN, Dr.. 91. 

Clay, Green, General. At Fort Meigs, 418, 419. No- 
tice of, 418. 

Clay, Henry. United States Commissioner at Ghent, 
1814, 448. Nominated for the Presidencv of the 
United States, 1825. 454. Secretary of State. "1S2.5, 454. 
His Compromise Bill, in 1833, 4(!4, 50(», 501. Nom- 
inated for the Presidency, in 1844, 478. Portrait, 
autograph, and notice of, 500. 

Clay, Lieutenant-Colonel. 4>6. 

Clayrorne, William, ^2, 151. 

Clayton, John M. Secretary of State, 1849, 499. 

Clear Water River, 19. 

Clement XIV., Pope, 266. 

"Cleopatra" steamboat, 508. 

"ClermonV^ steamboat. Fulton's first steamboat, 399. 

Cleveland, Benjamin. .\t King's Mountain, 319. 

Clinch, General. At Fort Drane, and Withlacooehee, 
467. 

Clingan, William. Signer of the Articles of Confed- 
eration, 611. 

Clinton, De Witt, 416. His part in the Erie Canal, 457. 
Portrait and autograph of, 456. Notice of, 457. 

Clinton, Sir Henry, General. At Boston, 177.5, 2:54, 
236. Joins Sir Peter Parker, 1776. 218. On Long 
Island, 1776, 258. At New York, 1777, 272. Captures 
Fort Clinton and Fort Montgomery. 1777. 28:3. Ex- 
pected by Burgoyne, 1777, 281. .Vt.Monniouth, 1778, 
287; pursued by Washington, 2^7. His moonlir//tt 
despatch, 288. His marauding expeditious, in 1778, 
1779, 296. Succeeds Howe, 1778. 287. Evacuates 
Rhode Island, and jjroceeds to the CaroUnas, 1779, 
306, 309. In New Jersey, 1780, 320. Deceives Wash- 
ington, .320. At the siege of Charlestcui, 1780, 809. 
Sails for New York, 1780, 313. Sends emissaries to 
the Pennsylvania mutineers, 1781, 328, 329. Portrait 
of, 287. 

Clinton, .James, Gener.al. At Tioga Point, 804. 

Clinton, George. Governor. 287. Vice-President of 
the United States, 1801. .396. 404. With General 
Knox, when he entered New York, in 1782, 350. Por- 
trait and notice of, 85ii. 

Cluh, Indian, used in war, 14. 

Clymer, George, 3.56, 6"2. 629. 

Cock BURN, ,\dniiral. His mar.auding expeditions, in 
1313, 1814. and lsl.5. 4:30, 440. 

Cod Fi.ihery, 47, 116. 

CODDINGTON, AViLLIAM, 91. 

Coffee, General. In the expedition against the Creeks, 
1813, 428. Notice of, 42s. 

Coin. Persian, found in Ohio, 11. Roman, found in 
Mi.ssouri, 1 1. 

Coin« and Currency, of the United States, 372. Cop- 
per coins, 372. 



Golden, Cadwalladek, 215. Portrait and autograph 
or, 210. ' 

CoLiGNY, Admir.ll, 49, .50. Sir Walter Raleigh studies 
the art of war with, ,52. The friend of H uguenot.s. 49. 

COLLAMER Jacoh. Postinaster-General. in 1>49, 499. 
m'l-\.i f'>-*ton. appropriation for establishing a. In 
i., •,'' 211- Dartmouth, Harvard. King'.H. Xa.ssau Ilnll, 
Ihiladephia, (iueens, Rhode Island, William and 
Mary, \ale, 178. 

Colleton, Jame.s, Governor, 166. 

Colleton, Sir John, 98. 

Collier, Sir George, 297. 

Collins, John. Signer of the Articles of Confederation. 
611. 

Colonies. American, history of the, 104. 174 Amer- 
ican, during the reign of" Queen Elizab.th, 51 62. 
American, population of the, 179. New England pro- 
posed Union of the, in 16:37, 121 ; the Union dissolved, 

Colony. Founding of a, described, 61. The earliest In 

America, 42. 
Columbia, District of, 888. The slave-trade in the 
abolished, 501. ' 

Cohunhia Hirer. 479. 

CoLUMitis, CiiRisToi-nER, 36. His marriage, 37. His 
voyag.- to IcelaiKl, 37. His son Diego, ;37. At the gate 
of the monastery <.f Rabida. :K (jueen Isabella fits 
out a tleet for him, 37. He sails from Palos, in 1492, 39. 
High admiral, :i9. Pecuniary promises made to him, 
.39. Picture of. before the Council of Salamanca, :J4. Ex- 
plores Cat Island, discovers other islands, including 
Cuba and San Domingo, 40. Returns to Spain in March, 
149:3, 40. His three subsecjuent voyages ; appointed 
Viceroy and High Admiral of the' New World; his 
fourth voyage, 41. His lirst landing in America ; takes 
po.sse.ssion of the country, in the name of Ferdinand 
and Isabella, 40. Picture of the banner of his expedi- 
tion, 40. Class of ships used by, 60. Picture of the 
tleet of, .39. Sent in irons to Siwin ; persecution, neg- 
lect, and death of, 41. Life of, Dy Irvine, CO. Portrait 
of, 36. 
Comanc/ie Indians, .3:3. Territory of the, 45. 
Combahee River. D'Ayllon anchors at the mouth of 

the, 4:3. Named Jordan, by D'Ayllon, 48. 
Commerce. Of the American colonies, restrictions im- 
posed on the, 212. American, :5^l. :>2, .390. 891 ; pro- 
tected, in 1801, :391 ; injured by England and France, 
400,401 ; injured by pirates. 18"l9, 45:3. Of Great Brit- 
ain ami the United States, ;367. 
Committee, of Safety. Of Mas.sachusctts, 284. Com- 
mittees of Correspondence, 226. 
Coma. Witchcraft at, 132. 
Company q/' Free Traders, 96. 
"Concesxions,'" The, of Berkeley and Carteret. 159. 
Confederation. American Articles of, 266, 267, 853, 

:355 ; copy of, 604 ss. 
Congaree Indians. Hostile to the South Carolina col- 
onies, 170. 
Congress. The word, explained. 866. First Conti- 
nental, at Pliiladelphi.a, 1774, 227, 228 ; the Earl of 
Chath.im's o|iinion of it, 228; State Papers put forth 
by the, 1774, 447 ss. ; second Continental. 215, 2.39; 
Members of the, 5s8; Declaration by the, on taking 
up arms, 177.5, t")s;3, 5>7 ; appoints a Committee to con- 
fer with Washington. 177.5, 239; measures of. 245; 
Armed .Marine of, :3o7; Committee on Naval Affairs, 
807. Continental, Nav.y Board of; Marine Committee, 
and Board of Admiralty of, .3('8; resolution on Inde- 
pendence, and Committee on the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, 251 ; Committee for conferring with Lord 
Howe, 269; Articles of Confederation of: see j4 »7if/«» 
of Confederation. Sessions of the Continental, 553. 
Continent.al, sends an emba.ssy to France, 177(i, and to 
other Eurojican courts, 266'; rejects Lord North's 
Conciliatory Bills, 2s6. Of the United States, resolu- 
tion of the.'nxo. to allow military otlicers half pay for 
life. :349; disbands the army. 17v>. ;35o: etforts .if. in 
1784, to restrict slavery, 5.34': at New York, 17s7, .362 ; 
recommends the appointment of a day for fhanksiriv- 
ingand prayer, 17-»7. .370; measures of the. ropeeting 
Revenues, 1789, .366, .367 ; sc-wion of, 179ii, 371 ; Extra- 
ordinary Sessions of, 47.5. Provincial, at Cambridse, 
Massachusetts, 2-30. Meeting, organization, proceed- 
ings, journal, adjournment, etc.. of, 61.5. I'owers 
vested in, 616 — til8. Power of, over public lands, 627. 
Discusses the Kansas-Nebraska Bill, 1854, 520, 521. 
"{'ongress" ft-icate, 414. 

Connecticut. Origin and signification of the word, R5. 
Settlement of, 02. Peipiod Indians in. 21. History 
of the Colony of, 154. Constitution of, 154. Charter 



650 



INDEX. 



of, from Charles II., 155. Takes part in the war 
agaiii.st King Philip, lo-j. Refuses to surrender its 
charter, 156. Joins the Confederacy of colonics, in 
1043,121. Population of, in ITuO, 157. Grant to, from 
Parliament, in 175S, 206. 
Connecticut River. Discovered by Block, 72, 82. Col- 
ony at the, 85, 86. 

Caxonciiet. Famous New England Indian, 21. 

CoxNOK, Commodore. Sails for the Gulf of Mexico, 
480. Captures Tampico, Tabasco, and Tuspan, 4S6. 
At Vera Cruz, 4S9. 

Conrad, Charles M. Secretary of War, 1850, 502. 

"6'o»s<e//«/Jo?i." frigate, 382. Captiy-cs the frigate L'ln- 
suvgente., 1779, 385. Action of the, with the frigate 
La Vengeance, 385. 

ConstitiUion of the United States. Washington sug- 
gests a Convention on the subject of a; history of the, 
33,5. Cn])y of the, 612—632. 

Conxlitnliiin of (furernment. Pilgrim, "S. 

^'Conxtifidioii" friirate, 382, 415, 440. Action of the, with 
the (riiri-riere, 414. 

Continental. Army, 238. Congress: see Congress. 
Money, 245 ; depreciation of, 293, 328 ; counterfeited, 
293. 

CoNTRECCEUR, M. Attacks the Ohio Conii)any"s men, 
182. 

Contreras. Battle of, 1847, 493. 

Convention. On the Articles of Confederation, 1787, 
356. At Albany, 1754, 183. 

Conway, Thomas, General. His machinations, 285. 

Conway, Henry Seymour, General. IIis motion in 
Parliament, 1782, 346, 347. 

CooDE. The insurgent, 153. 

CoPEBNiciTs. His theory of the Solar System, 37. 

Copley, John Singleton, 209. 

Copley, Lionel, Eoyal Governor, 153. 

Copper. Ancient utensils and ornaments made of, 
found in America, 11. Coins, in the United States, 
372. 

CoppiN. Pilot of the Mayflower., 78. 

Copp'H Hill, 235. 

Cooper, Ashley, Lord, 98. 

Cooper River. Origin of the name, 09. 

Cordova, Francisco Fernandez be. Discovers Mex- 
ico, 43. 

Coree Indians, 17, 20, 57. Conspire against the North 
Carolina settlements, 168. 

CoRNBURY, Lord, 149, 161. 

CoRNPLANTER. Scncca cluef, 26, 304. 

Cornstalk. Shawnee chief, unites with Logan against 
the white men, 20. IIis bravery ; he and his son 
shot, 2 ). 

CoRNWALLis, Charles, Lord. On Lons Island, 1776, 
253, 254. Captures Fort Lee, 259; Newark, New 
Brunswick, Princeton, and Trenton ; ])ursues Wash- 
ington, 260. At New York, 262. At Princeton, 268. 
Appro.aches Trenton, 268. At Charleston, 1780, 311. 
In South Carolina, 313. At Sanders's Creek, 315. In 
command of the British army at the South, 1780, 315. 
At Charlotte, 318. At Winnsborough, 319. Succeeds 
Phillips, 17S1, 330. Pursues Morgan, 332. Abandons 
North Carolina, 1781, 334. At Wilmington and 

Petersburg, 388. His operatio.. ..i Vim , -. 

Surrenders, at Yorktown, 1781, 341. Uis cruelty, 318. 
Portrait and notice of, 318. 

CoKONADA. His expedition, 45. 

Coronet. Armorial distinction, 73. 

Corpus C/iri.tti village, Mexico, 4S',(. 

CoRTEZ, Fernando. His expedition to Mexico, 43. 
Dethrones Montezuma, 10. Notice of, 43. 

CoRTuREAL, G.iSPER. His expedition to America, in 
15011, 47. 

CoRwiN, Thomas. Secretary of the Treasury, 1850, 502. 

CosiiY, William, Governor, 150. 

Costa Rica. Declares war against Nicaragua, 1856,526. 

Gotten, John. Clerk of the Stamp Act Cimimittee, 556. 

Cotton, Kev. Mr., 118. Comes to America, in 1663, 80. 

Cotton. Cultivation of, in the United States, 368. 

Council of Plymouth, 117, 120. 

Ciiioiril. Indian. How composed, 16. 

'■'■Ciin/ifi's.s of .Scarborough,'''' British ship. Captured by 
Paul .Tones, in 1779, 307. 

Counties, Oi-isin of, 73. 

Cowpen.s. Battle of, 331, .333. 

Cows. Brought to America by Columbus, in 149-3, 41. 
A hundred, taken to Virginia, in 1611, 68. 

CoxE. Speaker of the New Jersey Assembly, favors a 
Union of the Colonies, 1722, 183. 

CoxE, Tench. Portrait and autograph of, 369. Notice 
of, 368. 



Cradle. Of Peregrine White, 73. 

Craig, Major, 345. 

Craik, Dr. His anecdote of Washington's wonderful 
escape from death, at the battle of Monongahela. 1^0. 

Crampton, Mr. British Minister, disnussed,"528, .529. 

Cranch, Judge. Administers the oath of office to 
President Tyler, 475. 

Crane, Stephen. Member of the first Continental 
Congress, 1774, 588. 

Craney Island, 430. 

Craven, Lord. One of the principal friends of Charles 
II., 98. 

Craven, Charles. Governor of South Carolina, 170. 

Craw'ford, George W. Secretary of War, in 1849, 499. 

Crawford, William II. United States Minister to 
France, 181.3, 429. Secretary of the Treasury, 1817, 
447. Nominated for the Presidency, 1824, 454. 

Creation of the World, Indian traditions respecting 
the, 16. 

Cree^ Indiana, 29. Their lands, 80, 455, 456. Allies of 
the British, 30. Confederates, 19, 29, 30. McGillivray. 
Emperor of the. 16. Subjugation of the, 28. Allies 
of the North Carolina Colony, 168. Capture Fort 
Mimms, in 1813, 427. General Jackson's expedition 
against the, in 1814, 428. Allies of the Seminoles, 
1836, 467. Creek Sachem, To-mo-chi-chi, 103. 

Creoles. Origin of the, 41. 

" Crescent City"' steamboat. 512. 

Crimea, The. Enlistments in American cities, for the 
English army in, 528. 

Crittenden, J. J. Attorney-General of the L'nited 
States, 1841, 474, 502. 

Crittenden, William L. At Cuba, in 1851 ; executed, 
508. 

Croghan, Major. Portrait and notice of, 420. 

Crmcn Lands. Discussion respecting, 611. 

Cromwell, Oliver. Proposes to send ships, to assist 
tlic Connecticut colonies against the Dutch, 155. 
His supposed intention to migrate to America, 120. 
His motto, 130. Opposed by Virginia, lUS. Notice 
of, 108. 

Cromwell, Richard, 109. 

Cross. Of St. George, 144. Of St. Andrew, 144. Pine, 
erected by De Soto, 44. Planted on the shore of 
Gaspe Inlet, 48. 

Croic Indians. 32, .33. 

Croiv River, 19. 

Crown Poiiit, 199. Samuel Champliiin at, 59. John- 
son's expedition against, 185. Plan of, 200. 

Ckowninshield, Benjamin. Secretary of the Navv, 
1817, 447. 

Cruger, John. Author of the Declaration of Eights, 
215, 549. Member of the Stamp Act Congress, 556. 

Cruger, Lieutenant-Colonel, 3-35. In South Carolina, 
178i», 313, 315. 

Crusaders. Account of the, 88. 

Crystal Palace. At London ; at New York, 517. 

Cuba. Discovery of, by Columbus, i.K Exploring 
voyage to, 41. Invasion of. by Lopez. 5 i2. Prepara- 
tion at New York for the invasion of. 1851, 508. Ee- 
l.ations between the United States and S|)ain respect- 
ing, 1852, 512. Affair of the '-Black Warrior'' at, 
1854 ; proposed invasion of, 1854, 521. Proposed pur- 
chase or seizure of, 522. Conspiracy in, in 185.5, 527. 

Culpepper, Lord. Grants to, by Charles II., 110. His 
character, 113. 

Culpepper, John, 99. The revolt led by, 164. Lays 
out the city of Charleston, 165. 

Culpepper Flag, 24;^ 

Cunningham, Provost-Marshal, 258. 

Currency, National. Of the United States, 872. 

i 'up. Silver. Found in an ancient mound at Marietta, 11. 

Gushing, Caleb. Attorney-General of the United 
States, 1853, 515. 

CusiiiNG, Thomas. Member of the first Continental 
Congress. 1774, 588. 

Cushing. William, Judge, 869. 

CusilMAN. EOBERT, 77. 

('rsTis. George W. P. Notice of, 514, 515. 
CuTLr.R, Manasseh, 363. 
" Cya7ie," frigate, 440. 

Dacres, Captain. 414. 

Dade, Francis L., Major. Massacred, 1835, 467. No- 
tice of. 467. 

Dahcotah Indians, 31, 32. Hostile to the United 
States, 1812, 32. Confederated with the Sacs and 
Foxes, 1832, .32. Language, 12. 

Dale, Sir Tiio.mas. Arrives at Jamestown, with sup- 
plies, 69. Governor of Virginia, in 1614, 70. 



INDEX. 



651 



Dallas, George M. Vice-President of the United 
States, 1845, 47S. 

Dana, Francis, 355, 350, 611. 

Daniels, Colonel, 109. 

Daimem, Witchcraft at, 133. 

Dare, Eleanor, llcr daughter Virpnia, 56. 

Darien, Isthmus of. IJoundary of the Aztec empire, 
10. Colonized, iii 1510, by Vasco Nunez do Balboa, 
41. Ship Canal, 524. 

Dartmouth Colle{n-, ITS. 

Ihuiijhteni of Liberty, 216. 

Davenport, John, 8S. 

Davie, William Kiciiardson, Colonel, 31S, 356. En- 
voy to Franco, 1799, 3S5. 

Davis, Jefeerson. Secretary of War, in 1853, 515. 

D'A VLLON, Lucas Vasciuez. Enslaves natives of the Ber- 
nuulas, 42. Governor of Chicoia ; mortally wounded, 
43. 

Dayton, Jonathan, 856. Signer of the Constitution 
of the United States, 629. 

Dayton, William L. Nominated Vice-President of 
the United States, 1856, 532. 

Deane, Silas. Member of the first Continental Con- 
gress, 1774, 58S. Cliairman of the Committee on Na- 
val Affairs. 177.5, 307, 3o8. American Agent in France, 
266. On the American embassy to Franee. 1776, 266. 
Returns to America, 1778, 287. Proposes to ])resent 
to the French Government Eittenhouse's Planeta- 
rium, 269. Portrait and notice of, 266. 

Dearborn, Henry. Secretary of War, 1801,890. Com- 
mands the Army of the North, 1S12, 412. .\t York, 
Canada, 1813, 425. Portrait and notice of, 410. 

Death. Punishment of, among Indians, 1.5. 

Decatur, Stephen, Commodore, 415. In the Mediter- 
ranean, 1815 ; at Algiers; at Tunis, 445. His e.xidoit 
at Tripoli, 392. Captured, 1S15, 440. Portrait and 
notice of, 392. 

" Decatur,'' sloop of war, 528. 

Declaration of Iiidejtendence, copy of the, 590 — 601. 

Declaration of Ri<jht>t, in 1683, 147 ; in 1765, 215, 549. 

De Cordov.v:' see Cordova. 

Deerjield, Connecticut, 126. Attacked by Eouville, 
136. 

De Hart, John. Member of the first Continental Con- 
gress, 1774. 588. 

De Haven, Lieutenant, 509. 

De Heister. Hessian General, 253, 254. 

De Kalu, Baron. In the Southern campaign, 1779, 
17S0, 309, 314. Death of, 316. Monument "to ; por- 
trait and notice of, 316. 

Delancev, James, Governor, 188, 1S5. Favors a Stamp 
Act, 1755, 541. 

Delau-are. Settlement of, 92. Colonies. 144. Swedes 
in, 62. Yields to the Dutch, in 1673, 147. An indi- 
l)endent colony, in 1776, 159. 

Delaware Bj)j. Verrazani anchors in, 43. 

Delau-are IndiaH.% 17, 21. Their lands, 21. Treaties 
with the, 101, 363. Their hostility to the English, 19. 

Detau:are River, Washington crosses the, 2()0. 

De la Warr, Lord. Governor of Virginia, 68. At 
Jamestown, 69. Character of; death ot, 09. 

Delft- Ilaveit, Holland. Puritans sail from, 1020, 77. 

Deluge, The Universal. Indian traditions of, 16. 

Democracy. At Massachusetts Colony, changed to a 
Representative Government, 118. 

Democratic Party in the United Stiites, 1S56, 531. 

De Monts. His expedition to America ; his fort; his 
colony, 58. 

Denmark. Comprised in Scandinavia. 34. Traffic of 
Iceland and Greenland with, in 95t>, 35. 

Descent. Indian rule of, 16. 

Deseret. The country of the Mormons; signification of 
the name, 5il4. 

Desha, Joseph. On the w.ar of 1812. 409. 

De Soto, Ferdinand. Governor of Cuba, and of Flor- 
ida; lauds at Tampa bay; discovers the Mississip|)i 
ri ver, i n 1 54 1, 44. 45. Proceeds to Ne w Madrid ; death 
of, 45. Portrait of, 44. 

D'Estaing : see Estaing. 

Detroit. Capture of. 1813. 424. 

De Vries, Captain. 92. His plantation, 140. 

De.xter. Samhel, 389. 

Diaz. Portuguese navigator, discovers Stormy Cape, 
87. 

Dickinson, John. Member of the Stamp Act Con- 
gress, 556. Member of the Continental Congress, 
1774; corrects the Petition to the Kin:.'. 578. .588. Au- 
thor of the Address to the Inhabitants of Quebec. .572. 
Signer of the Articles of ConlVderation. Oil. Chair- 
man of the Convention on the Constitution ot the 



United States, 3.55. Signer of the Constitution. 629. 
His " Letters," 2ls, Portrait and autograph of, 219. 

Dickinson, Mahlon. Secretary of the Xuvy, 1n36, 470. 

Dieskau, Baron. Fate of his expedition, 189, lUu. 
Death of, 190. 

Dime. United States coin, 372. 

DiNocR.\TEs, the Architect. His proposcil statue of 
Alexander the Great, 60. 

DiNwiDDiE, RoKERT. Govcmor, 18.5. His letter to St. 
Pierre, Isl. His independi-nt companies, IS^I. 

Directory, The French. 3n!. 3'>4. 

Discoveries. English and French, 45 ss. 

Dissenters, in England, 76. 

DoBiiiN, James C.~ Secretary of the Navy, IbD;}, 515. 

Doniis. Governor. 185. 

Dohbs's Ferry, 257. 

Dollar, American, 372. 

IhDiiinion, The Old : see OUl Dominion. 

DoNKLsoN, Andrew J.. 479. Nominated Vice-Presi- 
dent of the United States, 18.56, 531. 

DoNGAN, Thomas, Governor. 147. 

Doniphan, Colonel. At Braccti, Chiliuahu.i, and Sal- 
tillo, 488, 4S9. 

DoNop, Count. At Burlington. 262. Death of, 295. 

Dorchester, Massachusetts. Founded, lis. 

Dorr, Tho.mas W., 477. 

Douglass, Mr. of Illinois. His Kansas-Nebraska Bill, 
1854, 519. 

Dover. Attacked by the French and Indians, 1089, l.SO. 

DowNiE, Commodore, 434. Death of. iX>. 

Drake, Sir Francis. 50. At St. Augustine, .57. Dis- 
covers the tobacco-plant ; introduces it into England. 
70. 

Drake, S. G. His Book of the Indians. *). 

Drayto.n, William Henkv. Signer of the Articles of 
Confederation. Oil. 

Drowned Lands of Illinois, .303. 

DRirMMoND. (ieneral. 4:32. iSS. At Burlinu'ton Heights, 
433. At Fort Erie, 1814, 4;54. 

Dru.mmond. William, Rev., 111. Executed, 97, 112. 

Duality of God. Taught by Indians, 1.5. 

Du.\ne, James. Member of the First Continontjil Con- 
gress, 1774, 588. Signer of the Articles of Confedera- 
tion, 611. 

Duane, William J. Refuses to withdraw the Govern- 
ment funds from the United States Bank, 405. 

Duciie, Jacob, Rev., 228. 

Dudley, Joseph, 121). 

Dudley, Thomas, 117. Deputy-Governor of Plymouth 
Colony. 118. 

DtjER, William. Signer of the Articles of Confedera- 
tion, 611. 

Dunbar, Colonel, 186. 

DrxMiiiiK, Lord, 237, 248. His arbitrary measures, in 
1775, 580. Charged with employing Indians against 
tile Virginians, 000. 

Du QuESNE, The Marquis, 182. 

Du Quesiie, Fort : see Fort Du Quesne. 

Dustan, Mrs. Cai>turcd by the French and Indians, 
134. 

Dutch, The. Their maritime enterprise, 10o9. 71. East 
India Companv of, send a ship to tlie Hu.lson River, 
71. Purchase Manhattan Island from the .Manhattan 
Indians; their contests with the Iniliaiis. 21. Settle 
at New Amsterdam. 62. In New Netlierlaml, send a 
friendly salutation to the .Massachusetts Colony, 118. 
Their iViendlv intercourse with the I'uritan.s. 8.5. Op- 
pose Captain" Holmes, 10:}3. S"). Purchase Long Island, 
114. Claim jiirisilletion, upon the Connecticut, 121. 
Settle in South Carolina. 99. Take posses.sion of New 
York, in 1073, 147. Monopolize the trade of Japan, 
512. 

Dutch. East India Companv, .50. 71. West India Com- 
panv. 72, 93, 139. 144. Mariner,*, trallic of. with East- 
ern ".Vsia, 59. Tniders, story of Captain Argall and, in 
1613, 72. 

Dutchman. Picture of ij. 176. 

Dutch Point, Connecticut, 85. 

DwiGiiT, Thkodobe. Secretary of the Hartford Con- 
vention. 444. 

Dyer, Elipiiai.et. Member of the Stamp Act Con- 
gress, 556 ; and of the flrst Continental Congress, 556. 

Eagle. American gold coin. 372. 

Earls. Districts governed by. 73. 

East India t'ompany. Semi tea to .\meriea; notice 

of the. 224. 
East Jerse'i, 160. 

Eastern Sioux. Population of. in 1650, 31. 
Eatin'j. Tribes in .\meriei^ that e.visted without, 12. 



652 



IXDEX. 



Eaton, John H. Secretory of War, 1829, 4G1. 

Eaton, Theophilus. Governor, SS, 154. 

Eaton, William, Captain. Consul at Tripoli, 392. 

Edda Indians, 2.3. 

Eden, William. Commissioner sent to America, 1T78, 
286. 

Edenton, North Carolina. First popular assembly at, 98. 

Education. Fostered by the Massachusetts Colony, 
121. In the colonies, 178. 

Edward VI., of England, 75. 

Edwards, Jonathan, 210. 

Effingham, Governor. Character of, 113. 

Egypt. Ori2;in of the Indians referred to, 11. 

Elba. Bonaparte at. 1814, 431. 

Electors for President and Vice-President of the United 
States, 361. 

Electro-tnagnetic telegraph, 507. 

Eliot, John, Rev., 123. 

Elizahetii, Queen, of England, 51, 76. 

Elizabeth Idands. Discovered, 57. 

Eli-abethfoicn, New Jersey. Origin of the name, 1.59. 
Families remove from Long Island to, in 1664, 1.59. 

Elleiiy, William. Signer of the Articles of Confeder- 
ation, 611 ; and of the Declaration of Independence. 
602. 

Elliott, Susanna, Mrs., 305. 

Ellsworth, Oliver, 356, 359. Envoy to France, 1799, 
SSo. OntheJiidicary (if the United "states, 368. Por- 
trait and autograph of. 30o. Notice of, 359. 

Elm. Penn's treaty, 96, 161. 

Embarkation of the Pilgrims. Weir's picture of the, 

Endicot, John, 117. 

England: see Great Britain. 

English gentleman. Picture of an, in 1580, 57. 

^'■Enterprise" brig, 430. 

'■^Epervier" brig, 440. 

Erie Indians, 19, 23. Invaded by the Five Nations, 24. 

Erie Canal, 456, 457. 

Erie, Lake : see Lake Erie. 

Ernucfau. Battle at, in 1814, 428. 

Erskine, General. At Treuton, 268. 

Erskine. Mr. British Miniter to the United States, 406. 

EsvpHs Indians, 143. 

Esquimaux Indians. 17. Their account of Sir John 

Franklin's party, 509. 
"Essex"' frigate, 414, 430. 431. 
EsTAiNG, Count d". Sent, with a fleet, to America, 286. 

His fleet disabled by a storm, 1778, 289. In the West 

Indies, 1778, 292. Off the coast of Georgia, 1779, 305. 

At the siege of Savannah, 305. Portrait and notice 

of, 289. 
EsTAMPES. Executed in Cuba, in 1855, 527. 
Estramadiira. Cortez died at, in 1554, 4;i. 
Etchemin Indians, 22. 

EusTis, William. Secretarv of War, in 1809. 406. 
Entaio Springs. Battle ot; "in 1781, 338. 
Everett, Edward. His letter on English and French 

interference respecting Cuba, 51-3. 
EwiNG, James. General. At Trenton. 26-3. 
EwiNG, Thomas. Secretarv of the Treasurv. in 1841 

474; of the Interior, in 1S49, 499. 
Exconummication. Account of. 75. 
Exeter, New Hampshire. Founded, 80. 
Eye. A people in America with only one, 12. 

Fairfield, Connecticut, 88. 

Fairuair, Harold, of Denmark, 35. 

Ealls. of the James Kiver, l(t.5. 108. 

Famine. In the Virsrinia Colony, 1610, 69. 

Faneuil Ildl. Picture of, 22.5. 

Fafohet, M. Succeeds M. Genet, .378. 

Faulkner, Major, 430. 

Faust, John. His printing-office, 62. 

Feathers. Indh-iu ornaments, 14. 

Federal Constitution, 359, 360, 361. 

Federalist Party, 377. 

^•Federalist" The. A series of papers by Hamilton, 
Jay, and Madison, 361. 

Felucca Gun-boat, 401. 

Fendall, Governor, 15-3. 

Ferdinand and Isabella, 38, 60. Patrons of Colum- 
bus, 60. 

Ferguson, Adam. 286. 

Ferguson, Captain. Anecdote of him and Colonel 
Horry, .336. 

J^|R|Pso.N, Mrs. Her attempt to bribe General Reed. 

■^oin^*??'' I'.'^TRicK, Major. At King's Mountain, 1780, 
819. Death and grave of, 319. 



Fernando de Taos. Massacre at, in 1847, 489. 

Ferkar, Nicholab, 107. 

Few, William, 355, 356. Signer of the Constitution o^ 

the United States, 629. 
Fidelity, The Order of, 352. 

Fillmore, Millard. Vice-President of the United 
States, 498. President, 1850, 501, 5o2. Nominated for 
the Presidency, ls56, 531. Portrait and autograph of 
502. Notice of, 501. 
Fine Arts in America, 209. 
Finland. Comprised in Scandin.avia, 34. 
Fire-places, Ancient. Found in North America, 11. 
Fisher, Hendrick. Member of the Stamp Act Con- 
gress, 556. 
Fisher, Mart, Quakeress. Arrives at Boston, in 1656. 

122. 
Fisheries, 349. Prohibitory Act of Parliament respect- 
ing the, 1775, 231. Difficulties between Great Britain 
and the United States respecting the, in 1852, 511 ; 
treaty respecting the, 523. 
Fishing Creek, 27. 
FiTzsiMoNS, Thomas, 856. Signer of the Constitution 

of the United States. 629. 
Fice liaiions. The. History of, 23. Their territory; 
their confederates, 23. Joined by the Mississagines, 
17. At war with the Ottawas, and the Hurons, 18, 
59 ; the Eries, the Andastes, and the Shawnees, 19 ; 
the Wyandots, 24 ; the Cherokees, 27 ; the Catawbas, 
in 1701, 26; the Lenni-Lenapes, in 1650, 21. Captain 
John Smith's friendly relations with, 67. Allies of 
Governor Winthrop. 131. Attempts of James II. to 
introduce French priests among them, 147. Their 
treaty of neutrality. In 1701, 185. 
Flag. Culpepper, 2"4-l Royal, of Great Britain, 144. 
Union, 245. Of the thirteen stripes, unfurled by 
Washinston at Cambridge, 144. 
Flat/,ead 1,1, Hans, m. 
Flaa; American, 206. 
Fleet. Of Columbus, picture of the, 89. Of England: 

see Great B/'itain. Of France: s,ee France. 
Fleming, Captain. Death of, 269. 
Fletcher, Benjamin, Governor, 149. 156, 164. 
Flint Hirer. De Soto on the banks of the, in 15.39, 44. 
Floating Batteries. Described, 201. 
Florida. Discovery of; origin of the name, 42. Nar- 
vaez. Governor of, 43, 44. Melendez's expedition to, 
50, 51. Oglethorpe's expedition to, 172. Ceded to 
England, 1763, 204. Restored to Spain, 1783, M9. 
Ceded to the United States, 1819, 461. State of, added 
to the Union, 1845, 478. 
Floyd, William. Member of the first Continental 
Congress, 1774, .588. Signer of the Declaration of In- 
dependence, 602. 
FoLSOM, Nathaniel. Member of the first Continental 

Congress, 1774,588. 
Foote, Mr., Senator from Mississippi, 501. 
Forbes, John, Gener.al. Acts contrary to the advice 
of Washington ; his expedition to Fort Du Quesne, 
198. 
Force, Peter. His copy of the Journal of Congress, 

572. His " National Calendar." 613. 
Forsyth, John. Secretary of State, 1836, 470. 
Forts. 
Adams, 374. 
Amsterdam. 139. 
Andrew, 173. 
Bower, 438. 
Brooke, 467. 
Brown, 481. 
Carolina, 51, 98. 
Casimir, 142, 143. 
Clinton. 283, 324. 
Cumberland, 198. 
Dearborn. 412. 
Defiance. 374, 416. 
Deposit, 416. 
Diego. 172. 
Drane, 467. 

Du Quesne. 27, 182. 185, 186. 
Edward. 1S9, 190, 191, 192, 275. 
Erie, 433, 454. 
Forty Fort, 290. 
Frederica, 173. 
Frontenac. 198. 
Galphin, 3-36. 

George, on Lake George, 198, 414, 425, 426, 427. 
Geors-e, New York City, 248, 351. 
Granbv, 235. 
Griswold, 340. 
Hamilton, 253. 



INDEX 



653 



Harrison. 41 (i. 

Iiuk'pendcuce, 20, 220. 

Kins, 407. 

La Fayette, 298. 

Leaveuworth, 483, 486. 

Le BiKuf, 18L 

Lee, 259. 

Lyman, 189. 

M.icliinaw, 411. 

Maiden, 410. 

Meiss, 418. 

Mrrecr, 274, 275. 

ilifflin. 274. 

M'llenry, 487. 

Alininis, 427. 

^Montffoniery, 283. 

Morpin. 4-38. 

M(>(»a, 172. 

Miitte, 335. 

Moultrie, 249, 310, 463. 

Na.'i.-au, 72, 93, 94. 

Necessity, 183. 

Niat.'ara,'l99, 200. 427. 

Niiiety-Si.v, 31(i, 335, 336. 

Ontario, 189. 192. 

Orange, 72, 130, 144, 14S. 

Osweso. 189, 192. 

Pepperell, 189. 

Pitt, 198. 

Pre.sque He, 181. 

Prince George, 885. 

Putnam, 283,' 324. 

Recovery. 374. 

St. Frederic, 189. 

St. rbiliji, 4411. 

Sandusky, 419. 

Schuyler, 278. 

Simon, 178. 

Stanwix, 278. 

Steplienson, 419. 

Stodd.art, 398. 

Sullivan. 249; 

Trumbull, .340. 

Venango, ISl. 

Washington, 253. 

Watson, 335. 

Wayne, 374. 416. 

William, 173. 

Willbam Henry, 191, 194. 
Foi-tijication.% Ancient. Kuins of, in America, 11. 
Fou\yARD, Walter. Secretary of the Treasury, 1841,475. 
Fowls. The first taken to Virginia, 1609, 68. 
Fox, Charles. His opposition'to the measures of Great 

Britain. 1777, 282. His remark respecting the battle 

of Guilford, 333. 
Fo.x, George. Visits his Quaker brethren In America, 

1673. 94. Notice of, 122. 
Fox Tndianx, 17. Consi)ire against the English, 1763, 

205. See (S'acv* and Faxes. 
France. A cross, with the arms of, planted on the 

shore of Gaspe Inlet, 1534, 48. Cessation of her huig 

contest with England, 1604, 03. War with England, 

16SS, 1.30. War of the Spanish Succession, 17U2, 135. 

First American embassy to, 1776, 206. Alliance of, 

with the United States, 1778, 283. Fleet of, sent to 

America, in 1778, 286. Secret treaty of, with Spain, 

1770, 306. Depredations by. on American commerce, 

1706, 382. Fleet of, attacked by Arbiithnot, 1781. 330. 

Kevcdution in, 1793, 377. War with England, Spain, 

and Holland, 1793, 377. Jealous of the LnitiMl States, 

1796. 382. War with the United States. 1798, 385. 

Injures the commerce of the United States, 1S06, 401. 

Negotiations of. with the United States, 181(t, 406. 

Mr. Crawford, United States Minister to, 1813, 429. 

Claims of, in North America, ISi). Claims of the 

United States ag.ain.st, 468: sec French. Interfer- 
ence of, resi)ecting Cuba, in 1852, 513. Protests 

against the annexation of the Sandwich Islands to the 

United States, in 1.853, 519. 
Francis I. His Expedition to America, in 1528, 4T. 
Franklix, Ben.tamix, 210. His Plan of Colonial Con- 
federation, 17.54, 1S3. A Colonel, .against the Indians 
at Kittaning. 1750, 193. At Boston, 177.5. on the sub- 
ject of the invasion of Canada, 239. Circulates in 
England the State-papers of the Colonial Congress, 
230r On the Committee to confer with Lord Howe, 
257. On the Committee to draft a Decl.aration of In- 
dependence, 251, 2.52. On the embassy to France, 
1776. I.ssues commissions to n.aval officer.s, .308. Com- 
missioner on the Treaty of Peace, 1782, 343. Tho 



Popes Nuncio makes overtures to, respectlne an 
Apostolic ^ icar in the United Suites. 1788, 85a Mem- 
ber of tlie (.on vention on tho Arti.les of Confedera- 
tion, lisi, 3ot>. His proi.osition, re.sjiectinjt pravers 
at the Convention, 17n7, 3.59. His account of" the 
father of Cotton Mather. VU. ■ Signer of the Deelara- 
*'"" "^?"!l<^l',«n,'''■n•••'^ tio2i and of the Constitution 
of the Lnited States, 629. M. Turgofs motto for a 
medal in honor of, 603. Portraits of, 367, 6>>». Auto- 
graph ot, 307. 

Frankhx, Sir John. His Expedition, in 1845, 509. 

I UA8ER, General. 276. 

^I^DERio TUB Great. Ilia opinion of Washington. 

Frederic III., of Prussia, 481. 

Fredericksburg, Mrginia, 67. 

Fredonia, New York. Anticpiities found near 11 

rree Institutions. Growth of, 114. 

Freedom. Ideas of, in Massachusetts, in 1635, 118. In 
the L nited States, 629. 

Frelingiiuysen. Theodore. Nominated Vice-Presi- 
dent of the United States, 1844, 478. 

Fremont, John Charles, Colonel. His exploits in 
California, 487. At Los Angclos; at San Gabriel- 
refuses to obey Colonel Kearney, and is deprived of 
his commission, 487. Senator from California, in 
1849, 499. Explores the Cochatope Pass. 516. Nom- 
inated for the Presidency of the United States, in 
1856, 532. Portrait, autograph, and notice of. 437. 
488. 

French, Parker II., Colonel, 427. 

French. Colony, on Sable Island, 57. Acadian, 121. 
Possessions in North America, between the Penob- 
scot and St. Croix, 129. Protestants, thirty families 
of, at Manhattan, in 1023, 73; in Carolina, 55. Kcvo- 
lution, 377. Settlement, the earliest in the New 
World, 5S, 59. Spoliations, 468. 

French, The. In Canada, discover the Algonquins, 17. 
First visit of, to the Sioux Indians, in 106o. .32, Ear- 
liest explorers of the Middle and Up|ierMississipi»i. 81. 
Subjugation of, in North America, 2(4. Assailed by 
the Natchez Indians, whom they almost annihilate, 
in 1730, 29. Their expedition against Charleston, 
169. 

French and Indian War, 19, 104, 183, 179. 

Fre7)4:htotcn. Burned, in 1813, 430. 

Fresh Water liivei; 85. 

Frouisiier, Sir Martin. His Expedition, 52. Tho 
ship used by, 60. Notice of, 51. 

'■ Frolic," brig, 415. 

Fkontenao. -M.. Governor of Canada, 181. Burns 
Schencctada. 130, 131. Kepclled by Schuyler, 149. 

Fry, JosiuA. Colonel, 182. Death of, 18.3. 

Fu{/itire Slure Lair, 507. Fugitive slave arrested at 
Boston, in ls54, 521. 

''Fulton," ship of war, .512. 

Fulton, Robert. Portrait, autograph, and notice of, 
398, 899. 

"Fundamental Con.ititutions,'" The, of Shaftesbury and 
Locke, 164, 165, 167. 

Funeral. Ceremonies, Indian, 1.5. Pyre, Algonquin, 15. 

Furs. Trade in, 72, 116, 189, 140. 

Gadsden, Curistopuer, Lieutenant-Governor, 812,556, 
558. 

Gage. Thomas, General. A Lieutenant-Colonel at the 
Battle of Monongahela, 17.55, 180. Governor of Mon- 
treal, 1760, 2i'8. Enters Boston with soldiers, 1768, 
220. Governor of Massachusetts, 1774, 226. Sends 
his secretary to dissolve the General Assembly of 
Massachusetts, 1774.227. Fortifies Boston, 229. No- 
tice of, 229. 

Gaines, Edmi-nd P., General. Arrests Aaron Burr, in 
18(l7, 39-%. At Fort Erie. 1814, 743. His exjiedilion 
against the Seminoles. 1n17; joined by General Jack- 
son, 44"^. Assaileil by the Seminoles, near Withlacoo- 
chee, 467. Notices of, 44^, 467. 

Galileo. Ilis theory of the revolution of the earth, 87. 

Gallatin. Alhert. " Leading member of the House of 
Representatives, 1 794. .3'^9. Secretary of the Treaiury, 
890,406. Envoy, lsl2. 419. United States Commis- 
sioner at Ghent, 1814. 443. 

GnUet/s. Described, 172. 

Galloway, .Iosf.i-h, 260. .588. 

Galveston. Pirates and slave-dealers ot. 4+8. 

Gamijieb, Lord. British Commissioner at Ghent, 1314, 
4;W. 

Gansf.voort, Colonel. At Fort Stanwi.x. 278. 

Garangcla. One of the chief men of the Onondagas, 
26. 



654 



INDEX. 



Gardiner, Colonel, 295. 
Gaspe Inlet, 48. 
"Gaspie'^ schooner, 223, 310. 

Gates, Horatio, General. His appoinment as Adju- 
tant-General, 23S. Succeeds General Thoma.s, 261. 
Supersedes General Schuyler, 277. At Bemi,s'.s 
Heights, 278. Burgoyne surrenders to, 281. Chair- 
man of the Board of War, 1778, 294. His flight to 
Charlotte, 17S0, 81G. Trial of, 330. Portrait and no- 
tice of, 314. 

Gates, Sir Thomas, 68. At Jamestown, 1611, 69. Ee- 
turns to England, 1614, 70. 

Geiger, E.milv, 337. 

Genet, Edmund Charles. Minister from Fr.ance to 
tlie United States, 377. Fits out privateers, 377. Re- 
called, in 1794, 378. Notice of, 377. 

Genesee County, New York. Ancient bit of silver 
found in, 11. 

Geneva, Switzerland. "Witchcraft at, 13?. 

Gentleman. Import of the word, in 1606, 64, 67. En- 
glish : see English Gentleman. 

Geok(;e I., of England, 186, 137. 

Georoe II., of England. Accession of, 137. Charter 
granted by, for the proposed Georgia Colony, 100. 

Geor(;e III., of England. Accession of, 212. His insan- 
ity, 93. Leaden statue of, at New York, pulled down, 
252. 

George, Prince of Denmark, 136. 

'■'■Georoe Wnshington''^ frigate, 391. 

Geoi-ijetown, District of Columbia. Burnt, in 181.3, 430. 

Geor'giii. Settlement of, 99. Seal of 100. Colony in, 
founded by Oglethorpe, 02. Colony of; origin of the 
name, 100. Invaded by the Spaniards, 172. Receives 
Parliamentary aid, 2u9. Claims of, to Cherokee 
lands, 401. Controversy in, concerning the Creek 
lands, 4.V), 456. 

Gerard, M. French Minister to the United States, 287. 

Gei'miniK In North Carolina, 168. 

Gerrv, Elbridge, 356. Signer of the Articles of Con- 
federation, 611 ; and of the Declaration of Independ- 
cnse, 602. Envov to France, 1797, 385. Vice-Pres- 
ident of the United States, 1808, 497. 

Germaine, George, Lord, 282, 345. 

Germantown. Battle of, 275. 

Gesler. Notice of, 223. 

Ghent Treaty at, 443, 444. 

Giants. In America, stories of, 12. 

GiDDixGS, Major. At Ceralvo, 486. . 

Gilbert, Edward, of California, 499. 

Gilbert, Sir HuMPiiREy, 52, 63. His expedition to 
America; notice of, 52. 

Gilbert, Sir John, 63. 

Gilbert, Raleigh, 63. 

GiLMAN, Nicholas, 356, 629. 

Gist, General, 347. 

Gloucester, Duke of, 272. 

Gloucester, Delaware, 94. 

GloHcester, Virginia. Fortified by Cornwallis, 1781, 840. 

Goats. The first taken to Virginia, 1609, 68. 

God. Duality of, taught by the Indians, 15. 

Godfrey, Thomas, 209. 

GoDVN, Samuel, 92, 139. 

Goffe, William. The regicide judge, 123. 126. 

Gold. Thirst for. In the Virginia Colony, in 1608, 67. 
Discovery of, in California, 497. 

GoLDsnoROUGH, EoBERT. Member of the first Conti- 
nental Congress, 1774, 588. 

Golilsmiths. Among the Virginia colonists, in 1608, 67. 

Gore, Christopher, 222. 

GoRciES, Sir Fernando, 63, 79, 129. Associated with 
John Mason, 79. 

GoRiiAM, Nathaniel, .356, 859, 629. 

GoRM, the Old, of Norway, .35. 

GosNOLD, Bartholomew, 57, 63, 65. His discoveries; 
his fort, 57. Death of, 65. 

Gottenbiirg. Minuit sails from, in 1637, 93. 

GouLDBOURN, Henry. British Commissioner at Ghent, 
in 1814, 443. 

GouRGEs, Dominic de. Surprises and captures Fort 
Carolina, 51. 

Governme?)t. Three forms of, in America, 211. 

Graffenrikd, Count, 168. 

Graham, William A. Secretary of the Navy, 1850, 
502. Nominated Vice-President, 1852, 518. 

Granger, Francis. Postmaster-General, in 1841, 474. 

Grant, James, Colonel, 204. 

Grant, General (British), 253. His reply to Kali, 262. 

Grasse, Count de, .339, 840. Portrait of, 340. 

Graves, Admiral, 340. 

Graves, Indian, 15. 



Gray, Samuel. Killed at Boston, by Preston's men, 221. 
Grayson, William, 355. 

Great Britain. First maritime connection with Rus- 
sia, 47. Invaded by the Spanish Armada, 57. Cessa- 
tion of the long contest of, with France, 1604, 6-3. War 
with France, 1688, 130 ; with Holland, 1672, 147 ; with 
Spain, 1779, 135, 306; with Holland, 1780, 827. Ac- 
knowledges the Independence of the United States, 
1783, 348. Non-intercourse with tlie United States, 
1806, 399. Injures the commerce of the United States, 
401. Navy of, in 1812, 414. At w.ar with the United 
States, 18l"2, 409 ; Treaty of Peace, 1815, 443. Claims 
of. til ti i-rit(iry in Nortli America, 17, 03, l^o, 4T\ 479. 
Ditlicultics (it^ with the United States, coiiiTnijni; the 
fisheries, 1852, 511. Interference of, respecting Cuba, 
1852, 51.3. Protests against the annexation of the 
Sandwich Islands to the United States, 519. Reci- 
procity treaty of, with the United States, 523. Difficul- 
ties (li; respecting enlistments, in 1855, 528. Royal 
standard of, 144. 
Great Horseshoe Bend. General Jackson at the, 1814, 
428. 

Great Kenawha Jiiver. Shawnee Indians subdued at 
the, 19. 

Great Plains, The, 4S3. 

Great Salt Lake. Mormons at, 503. 

Great Spirit. The. Indian traditions respecting, 11. 
Indian prayer to, for guidance, 23. 

Greek Inscrijjtlons. On ancient armor found at Mon- 
tevideo, 11. 

Green, Roger, 97. 

Green Bay. Indians on the western shores of, 18. 

Green, Christopher, Lieutenant-Colonel, of Rhode 
Island, 275. 

Greene, Nathaniel, General. Appointed Brigadier- 
General, 1775, 238. At Fort Lee, 259. At Trenton, 
1776, 259. Accompanies La Fayette to Rhode Island, 
1778,289. At Springfield, 1780,' 320. Succeeds Gates, 
1780 ; his operations, 330. Joins Morgan at the Yad- 
kin, 1781; his retreat from Virginia, 832. Opposes 
Cornwallis at Guilford court-house, 333. Pursues 
Cornwallis ; at the battle of Hobkii'k'sTIill ; bis letter 
to M. Luzerne, 334. At the siese of Fort Ninetv-Six, 
1781, 336. Pursues Stewart, 337. At the battle of 
Eutaw Springs, -338. Receives intelligence of the cap- 
ture of Cornwallis, 845. Takes possession of Charles- 
ton, 1782, 348. Portrait and autograph of, 831. 

Greene, Zecii.vriah, Rev. 252. 

Greenland. Settlement of, -35. Traffic of, with Nor- 
way and Denmark, in 950, 35. 

Greenville, Treaty of, in 1795, 24. 

Grenadiers. Described, 201. 

Grenville, George. Author of the Stamp Act, 221. 

Gkenville, Sir Richard. His E.^pedition to America, 
55, 56. 

Grenville, Georgia, 213. 

Grey, General. His marauding Expedition, 290. 

Grey, Captain. Of Boston, 479. 

Greytoicn. Bombardment of, in 1854, 524 

Gridley-, Richard. Engineer of the Continental Army, 
138, 190, 198, 234. 

Gridley, Mr. Advocate for the Crown, 1761, 212. 

Grier, Mrs. Judge Henry's account of, 241. 

Griffith, Admiral. At Castine, 1S14, 428. 

Grmalva, Juan de. His Expedition to Mexico, 43. 

Grinnell, Henry. His Expeditions in search of Sir 
John Franklin, in 1850 and 1853, 509. 

Groton, Massachusetts. 87, 127. 

Grundy-, Felix. On the war of 1812, 409. 

Guanahama. The place of Columbus's first landing in 
America, 40. 

Gudrida. Wife of a Scandinavian Navigator; and 
mother of a child born in America, 3.5. 

Guess, George. A native Cherokee, invents an alpha- 
bet of his lansnage, 28. 

Guilford. Battle of, 1781, 833. 

Gun-hoats of the United States, 401. 

GuNNisTON, Captain. His Expedition to explore a route 
for a Pacific railroad ; attacked by Indians ; death 
of, 516. 

'^Gustavus Adolphus." The assumed name of Ar- 
nold, 92, 325. 

Guthrie, James. Secretary of the Treasurv, in 1853, 
515. 

GuTTENBERG, JoHN. Priiits a Bible, with cut metal 
type.s, 62. 

GwiGNEDP, Owen, Prince. His son Madoc s.ails from 
Wales to America, 1170, .32. 

GwiNN, William M. United States Senator from Cal- 
ifornia, in 1849, 499. 



INDEX. 



655 



Gwinnett, Button. Signer of tho Articles of Confed- 
eration, Oui ; and of tlie Declaration of Xndenendcnce 
602. 

Iftthen^ Corpus. The Writ of, G19. 
JktdM/'x Qi(itilr<nit, %\'). 
Ifa<ll,'ij, CiiniU'pticut, 120. 

HaKLCVT, lIlCllAl'.l), (i:i. 

IIai.i;, Sir Matthew. Condemns persons accused of 

witclu-raft, 182. 
Hai.i-,, Nathan, Captain. E.Kecuted, 2,')S. 
"//((//- J/(w»," The. Henry Hudson's ship, 48, 59, Tl. 

Picture of, 59. 
Hall, Lyman. Signer of the Declaration of Independ- 
ence, (502. 
Hall, Nathan K. Postmaster-General, in 1850,502. 
Hall, Judge. Arrests General Jackson, 1815, 4-13. 
IlAiMEU, General, 483. 

Hamilton, .Vlkxandek, General. Washington's favor- 
ite Aid and Secretary. 360, .361. Member of the Con- 
vention on t!ie Articles of Confederation, 17S7, 350. 
Sitrner of the Constitution of tlic United States. One 
of the authors of "The Federalist," 361. Secretary of 
t\\v Treasury, 17S9, .'JTO ; his financial Reports, .370,371, 
His Scheme' respeetiug Public Lands, 372. His disa- 
greement witli .(ert'erson, 374. His duel with Burr, 
390. Portrait and autograph of, 301. Notice of, 360. 
Hamilton, Paul. Secretary of the N.avy, 1809, 406. 

Hami'Den, John, 85. His supposed intention to mi- 
grate to America, 120. 

Hampton, Wade, General, 410, 427. 

Hampton RotuU. The British fleet in, in 181.3, 430. 

Hani'ock, John. At Salem, 230. Gage's purpose to 
hang him, 234. Leads troops to Khode Island, in 
177>!, 2^9. Signer of the Articles of Confederation, 
" Oil; and of the Declaration of Independence, 2.")2, 
602. His sloop '•i/Ae/'^!/," 220. Portrait, autograph, 
and notice of, 230, 231. 

Hanham, Thomas, 63. 

Hansford, Charles. Kxecuted, 112. 

Hanson, Joun.^ Signer of the Articles of Confedera- 
tion, 611. 

Hardv, Commodore, 430, 437. 

Harlem Heights. Washington at, 257. 

Harlem Plains. Skirmish at, 258. 

Harmer, General. His Expedition against the Indians, 
373. 

Harnett, Cornelius. Signer of the Articles of Con- 
federation, Oil. 

Harper, John A. A member of tho Committee on 
President M.adison's Si)eeial Message, 1812, 409. 

Harrington, Jonathan, 222. 

Harriot. His "Report on the new found land of Vir- 
ginia ;" notice of, 55, 56. 

Harri-shnry, Pennsylvania. National Convention at, 
1827, 4.58. 

Harrison, Ben.tamin. Of Virginia, 588. Member of 
the first Continental Congress, 5S8. Signer of tho 
Declaration of Independence, 602. At Boston, 1775, 
239. 

Harrison, Robert II., Judge, 309. 

Harrison, William Henry. At the battle of Tippe- 
canoe, 4il8. Couniiands the army of the North-east, 
412. His Expedition against the Indians, 1813,410. 
At Fort Meigs, 418. Attacks Maiden, 1813, 423. His 
fame, 424. President of the United States, in 4841 ; 
his administration, 473. Death of, 475. Portr.ait and 
autograph of, 474. Notice of, 473. , 

Hart, John. Signer of the Declaration of Independ- 
ence, 602. 

Hartford, Connecticut, 88. Convention at, in 1811, 
444. 

Hartley, David, 318. 

Harvard, Edenezer, 873. 

Harvard, John, Rev. 121. 

Harvard College, 121, 178. 

Harvey, Sir John, 107, 105. Impeached, 207. 

Harvie, John. Signer of the Articles of Confedeni- 
tion. Oil. 

Haslett, Colonel. Death of, 269. 

Haiteras Indians. 20, hT\ 107. 

Harana. The body of Columbus removed to, 41. The 
'■^ Black Warrior" steamer seized at, 521. 

Haverhill, Massachusetts, 134. 

Haviland, Colonel, 203. 

Havre-de-Oraoe, Maryland, 82, 430. 

Hawley". Jesse, 4,56. 

Haynr, Isaac, Colonel, .3.3T. 

Hayne. Robert Y. Portrait, autograph, and notice of, 
463, 46i 



I IlAzzARD, W. W. His plantation, 17.3. 
I Head oj hlk, .Maryland, mi. 
! Heald, Captain, 412. 
I Heath, Sir Robert, 97, 98. 

I Heath, William, General,' 2-38. In the Highlands, 259. 
At Peeksklll, 200. in New Jersey, 204, 205. 
IlEOKEWEiDER His History of the Indian Nations, 3.3. 
I Hedges »/(«//, Plymouth, 79. 
Heights of Abraham, 202. 

//etl Gate, New York. Navigated by Block, 72. 
/Mmet, Ancient. Found at Montevideo, 11. 
//emp, American, 200. 
Henderson, General, 48.3. 
Hendkkuv. Death of, 190. 

Henrietta Maria, sister of Louis XIII., of France, Rl. 
Henry, Prince, of Portugal, Patron of navigators, 80. 
Henry IV., of France. His edict of Nantes, 166. 
Henrv IV., of Castile and Leon, 88. 
Henry VII., of England. Zealous in tho cause of mar- 
itime discovery, 40. 
Henry VIII., of England. Defies tho Pope; Defender 
of the Faith, 75. Revival of an obsolete statute of, 
221. Punishes witchcraft, 1.32. 
Henry, Patrick. Member of the First Continental 
Congress, 1774, 228, 588. His eloquence, in 177.5, 237. 
His regiment .at the battle of the Great Bridire, 248. . 
Member of the Convention on the Articles of Confod- 
er.ation, 1787, 350. Declines the appointment of En- 
voy to France, in 1799, 385. Picture of, before tho 
Virginia Assembly, 207, Portrait, autograph, and 
notice of, 214. 
Henry', Judge, 241. 

Herkimer, General. At Oriskany, 278, 
Heroic Age of America, 10. 
IIeiirera, President, 4sl. 

Hessians, The. Account of, 240. Marauders, 296, 297. 
Capture of, at Trenton, by Washington, 208. With 
Burgoyne, 2S1. 
IIewes, Joseph, ,588. Member of the Convention on 
the Articles of Confederation, 004. Signer of the Dec- 
laration of luilependence. 602. 
Heyes, Petkr, 92, 94. 

Heyward, Thomas, Jr. Signer of the Articles of Con- 
federation, 611 ; and of the Declaration of Independ- 
ence, 6i)2. 
IIi-A-WAT-iiA, Legend of, 23, 24. 
HicKEY, Mr. His "Constitution of the United States,"' 

018. 
Hichittie Tndiayis, 30. 
Hierarchij. Described, 175. 
Ilieroghiphics, Indian, 1.3. 
IIii;(aNsoN, Rev. Mr. 117. Death of, 113. 
///;//* IliUs ofSantae, 337. 
Highlanders, in Georgia, 171. 
Hn.DRETH. His History of the United States, 60. 
Hilton. The brothers, fishmongers, 79. 
IHndostan. Origin of the Indians referred to, 11. 
IIiNMAN, Captain, 308. 
Hi-o-ka-too, Seneca Chief, 2.5. 
History of the World. Ralelirh's .55. 
Hohkirk's Hill. Battle of, :«4. 
Hoboken. Slaughter of Indians at, 141. 
HoHOMOK. Famous New England Indian, 21. 
Hochelaga. Cartier at, in 1.5;j.5, 48. 
Hooker, Thomas, Rev. His colony, SO. 
Hooper, .John. Bishop of Gloucester, 70. 
HoLuoRNE, .'Vdmiral, 194. 
Holland. Expeditions from, to ,\merica, 71, 72. War 

with England, in 1072, 147; and in 1780, 327. 
Holmes, .Vdmiral, 201. 
lIoi.MES William, Captain, 8.5. 
iloLT, Chief Justice. His decision respecting slaves 

and slaverv, 533. 
HoLTEN, Sa.muel. Signer of the Articles of Confedera- 
tion, 611. 
Homestead Bill. The, \VA. .520. 

Hooper, William. Member of tho first Continental 
Congress, 1774, .588. Signer of the Declaration of In- 
dependence, 002. 
Hopkins, Edward, Governor, SS, 15.5. 
Hopkins, Ezek. First Coniiiiander-in-chicf of tho 

American Navy, 177.5, SOS. 
Hopkins, Stephen. Member of the first Continental 
Congress, 1774, .588. Signer of the Declaration of In- 
dependence, 002; and of tho Articles of Confedera- 
tion, 0ii4. 
HoPKiNsoN, Francis. Signer of the DecLaration of In- 
dependence, 6o2. Portrait and autograph of, 284. 
Notice of, 2'%5. 
HOPKLNSON, Joseph. Author of " Uail Coliunbla," 2S5. 



65G 



INDEX. 



'' Hornet'' sloop of war, 414, 42S, 429. 

HoKRY, Colonel. Anecdote of him and Captain Fergu- 
son, 330. 

noi'se. The first taken to Virginia, in 1609, 68. Co- 
lumbus takes horses to America, 1493, 41. Taken from 
Cuba to America, 152S ; their fate, 44. Taken by De 
Soto to America, 44. 

IIosMER, Titus. Signer of the Articles of Confedera- 
tion, 611. 

HoTHAM, Admiral, 292. 

Houmionif Indians, 189. 

House. Enrly New England, picture of an, 176. 

House of Burgesses, Virginia. Tlie beginning of the, 
106. 

House of Lords. Described, 218. 

Hou.se of Jiepresentdtives, of the United States, 613, 
614, 615. Qualifications, and appointment of Repre- 
sentatives, 613. 

House of Jiepresentatives, of Massachusetts Colony, 
122. 

Houston, William. One of the Georgia Delegates to 
the Convention of 17S7, 356. 

HouSTOX, William Churchill. One of the New Jer- 
sey Delegates to the Convention of 1787, 3.56. 

Houston, General. At the battle of San Jacinto, 478. 

Howard, John Eagek, Colonel. At the battle of the 
Cowpens, 332. 

Howard, Admiral, 57. 

Howe, George, Lord. Notice of, 197. 

Howe, Richard, Lord. At Boston, 247. At New 
York, 252. Prepares to attack New York; paroles 
General Sullivan; asks Congress to appoint a Com- 
mittee of Conference, 257. His letter to Washington, 
253. Meets the Committee appointed by Congress, 
1776, 257. In Earitan bay, 287. His fleet disabled by 
a storm, in 1778, 289. 

Howe, Robert, General, 244, 292, 29S. Suppresses the 
mutiny at Pompton, 1781, 329. 

Howe, Sir William, General, 202, 234, 2.35. At Que- 
bec, 202. At New York, 252. His Proclamation, 260. 
Perplexes Washington, 272. At Brandywine, 273. 
At Elkton, 173. Attempts to entice Washington from 
his encampment, 183. Knighted, after the battle of 
Brooklyn, 273. 

Howell, Mr., of Rhode Island. Member of the Com- 
mittee of Congress, 1784, on Slavery, 534. 

HHdmiintla. Battle of, in 1847, 494. 

Hudson, Henry, Captain. Sent to America by Lon- 
don Merchants ; his voyage to the polar regions ; his 
ship; applies to the Dutch East India Company, 59. 
His glowing account of his discoveries, 71. Fate of, 
59. "Portrait ot; 59. 

Hud.son's Bay, 17, 47. Discovered, 59. 

Hudson's Bay Fur Company, 509. 

Hudson River. Henry Hudson sails up the, 59. 

Huerfano River, 516. 

HuGER, Colonel. Defeated by T.arloton, in 1780. 311. 

Huguenots, The. Persecution of, in Franco, 100. Ad- 
Diiral Colignv, the friend of, 49. In North Carolina, 
168. In South Carolina, 166. Influence of, in Amer- 
ica, 52. 

Hull, Isaac, Commodore, 414. 

Hull, William, General, 410, 411. 

Hulseman, The chevalier, 511. His procedure in rela- 
tion to Koszta, in 1S53, 518. 

Humphrey, Alexander, 80. 

Humphrey, John, 117. 

Humphreys, Charles. Member of the first Continent- 
al Congress, 1774, 588. 

Hungary. Revolution in, 511. 

Hunt, Captain. Kidnaps Indians, 74. 

Hunter, Robert, Governor, 150. 

'■■Hunter's Lodges," 472. 

Huntington, Samuel. Signer of the Declaration of 
Independence, 002 ; and of the Articles of Confedera- 
tion, 611. 

Huron, Lake: see Lake Huron. 

Huron King. Taken by Cartier to France; dies in 
France, 49. 

Huron Indians, 21, 23. With Samuel Cham plain, 59. 

Huron-Iroquois Indians, 22-26. Their territory, 23. 
Their language, 12. 

Huron County. Invaded by the Five Nations, 24. 

Huss. The Bohemian Reformer. 62. 

HuTrniNsoN, Governor, 222. His famous ''Letters," 
224, 225. 

Hutchinson, Captain, 126. 

Hutchinson, Anne, Mrs., SO, 91, 120. Murder of, 141. 

Hutchin.sov Controversy, S3. 

Hutchinson'is River, 141. 



Hutson, Richard. Signer of the Articles of Confeder- 
ation, 611. 
Hyde, Edward, Governor, 149, 150. 

Iceland. Discovered and colonized ; traflic of, with 
Norway and Denmark, In the year 950, 85. Com- 
prised in Scandinavia, 34. A Norwegian vessel sails 
from, to Greenland, in 1002, 35. Columbus's voyage 
to, 37. Icelandic Chronicle, cited, 35. Intimations 
in the tales and poetry of, respecting America; early 
voyages from, 34. 

Idol'. ltei>resenting a man without arms, found near 
Nashville. Tennessee, 11. 

Ih-auj'-Xoi,t;t^Z. 

Illinois Indians, 17, 18, 19. Invaded by the Sacs and 
Foxes, IS. 

Illinois. Territory and State of, 890, 44S. 

Immigrants. How admitted, according to the Consti- 
tution of the United States, 619. 

Ii,iiii"f'tii/iti/ (if the Hold. Taught by the Indians, 15. 

Inili iKiiih ncf, American. General desire for, in 1776, 
250. War for, 229. Asserted by the Committee of 
Conference with Lord Howe, 257. Acknowledged by 
Great Britain, in 1783, 34S. 

Indian. Alliances, against the Colonies, 124. Burial- 
place, 15. Chiefs, 14; Chiefs, dine with Governor 
Winthrop, 118. Confederacy, against South Carolina, 
170. Corn, Captain John Smith eats, on the spot 
where Baltimore is now situated, 67 : see Maize. 
Doctrines of Atonement, 16; and of the Immortality 
of the Soul, 15. Rule of lineal descent, 16. Dresses, 
13. Food, 13. Funeral ceremonies, 15. Government, 

16. Graves, 1.5. Hieroglyphics, 18. Implements of 
labor, 13. Lauds, purchased by the United States 
from the Sacs and Foxes, 18. Manitou, 15. Money, 
13. Mounds, 15. Polygamy, 15. Portraits and cos- 
tumes, 53. Presents, received from Great Britain, 206. 
Religion, 1.5. Sachems, 14. Sacrifices, 16. Territory, 

17, 890. Totum, 15. Traditions of the Creation, tho 
Deluge, and their own origin, 16. Treaties, 362, 368; 
Treaty of Peace, 1795, 874. Wampum, described, 1-3. 
War-club, 14. .Weapons, 14. 

Indians, The. Early history of, involved in obscurity, 
10, 11. Origin of, referred to the Phcenicians, Egyp- 
tians, Hindoos, and lost tribes of Israel, 11. Resem- 
blance of, to Asiatics, 11. Account of the Aboriginal 
tribes of, 12. Employments of women among. 12, 13. 
Extreme Western, 32, 3.3. Population of, in tho 
United States, 18.53, 32. Their hostility to the white 
people ; their plan to exterminate the white people ; 
slaughter of, in 1622, 106. 

Indian War of 1832, 462. Hostilities, 1855, 527. 

Indies, The. Columbus's voyage in quest of a western 
passage to, 34. The trade of, monopolized by the 
Italian cities, 36. 

Indigo, American, 200. 

Industry, Private. Effects of, in Virginia, and in Ply- 
mouth, 70. 

Infidels. Not any, among Indians, 15. 

Ingersoll, Jared, 356, 416. Signer of the Constitution 
of the United States, 629. 

Ingham, Samuel D. Secretary of the Trcasurv, 1829, 
461. 

Ingoldsby, Richard, 148, 150. 

Ingraham, Captain. His exploit at Smyrna; Congress 
votes a sword to, 518. Portrait of, 518. 

Intolerance. In Massachusetts, 118. 119, 123. In Mary- 
land, New York, and New England, 182, 188. 

'■Intrepid," The. Tripolitan vessel, 392. 

'•Iiir,.'<fi,,,it,,r" ship, 510. 

lotr.l ///.//-///.v. 32. 

lowii. State (if, added to the Union, 184.5, 478. 

Iron. Utensils, found in ancient mounds in America, 
11. 

Iron Chain across the Hudson, 824. 

Iroquois Indiana. The Wyandots incorporated with 
the, 24. Population of the, in 1650, .31. 

Irvin, Colonel. At Agua Frio, 4S6. 

Irvine, William, 355. 

Irving, Washington. Life of Columbus by. 60. 

Isabella, Queen. Sister of Henry IV., of Castile and 
Leon, 38. Columbus's personal interview with ; por- 
trait of, 38. 

Isinglass Jlirrore. Ancient, found in Ohio, 11. 

IsU of Rhodes, 91. 

Israel. The origin of the Indians referred to the lost 
tribes of, 11. 

Italian cities. Their monopoly of the trade of the In- 
dies, 36. 

IZAKD, General. Succeeds Wilkinson, 432. Notice of, 434. 



INDEX 



05' 



Jackson Andrew, General. Anecdote of him, when a 
boy 314 The mother of, 3U. His conflaencc won 
bv Burr 39T. His expedition airainst tlie Creelis, in 

1813 42S Storms I'ensa.ohi, 1-^14, 4;K At New 
Orleans, 438, 439. His treaty with Hr. Creek Indians, 

1814 4;3S His expedition ai;aiM*t the &eminolc8,lSli, 
448.' Captures Pensacola, l^l-^- 4M. Subdues the 
Seminoles, 30. N...uinatvd lor the Presidency of the 
United Stiites, Ivjr,, 454. President of the United 
States 1S29 ; his administration, 4.59. PvC-elected, 
1S32, 464. Portrait and auto^'raph of, 460. Notice of, 
459,"'461. See United iStutts Bit nk. 

Jackson, Hugh, 314. ,,*•„? 

Jackson, James. Portrait, autograph, and notice of, 
34T, 348. 

Jackson, Robert, 314. ..,<-■ ^e *i, „,i^,> 

Jackson, AVilli am. Secretary, at the time of the adop- 
tion of the Constitution ol the United States, b29. 

Sacksonhorough. South Carolina Legislature at, in 

Jalapa. Generals Scott and Twiggs at, 4S9, 490. 

James I., of England. Character of; persecutes Pun- 
tans 76 His hatred of tobacco, 70. His proposal to 
contract for the whole crop of tobacco in Virginia in 
IG'i'^ 107 His acts of usurpation in Virginia, lOi. 
Death of, 116. Patents granted bj, 63, 64. 

James II., of England. Accession of; his character, 113, 
147 Oppressive measures of, 129. His arbitrary pro- 
ceedings respecting the Jerseys, 160. Driven into 

Jamlt'niv'e,: Origin of the name, 64. English navi- 
gators enter the, 20, 61. Indians on the, 1 . . 

Jameson, Colonel, 326. ^^ „ . . » i. 

Jam!stown., Virginia. Founded 166. Origin of the 
name, 64. Picture of the building of, 01. Captain ; 
Smith at, in 1608; Captain Newport at, in IbOb bi. ; 
Cultivation of tobacco at, .0. t amine at, in IblO; , 
saved by Pocahontas; Lord Delaware s^ arrival at, 69 
saved by Chanco, 106. Nathaniel Bacon at, 111. 
Destruction of, by Bacon, 112. Picture ol the rmns 

of, 112. , _,„ 

Japan. Perry's expedition to, oli. 
Jasper, Sergeant, 249, 305. 

jff JoHN^ On*e of the authors of the Federalist, 861. 

"Addresses to the people of Great Britain written by, 

228, 557. Commissioner on the Treaty of Peace, 1 (82, 
848 First Chief Justice of the Lmted Stiites, 3bJ. 
Special envoy to Great Britain, 1794, 379. IIis treat}', 
879 380. Portrait and autograph, and notice of, -319. 
Jefferson, Thomas. On the Committee to draft the 
Declaration of Independence. 251 : the reasons wh} 
he was chosen to write it, 589, 590 Signer of the 
Declaration, 602. His letter to Kichardllenry Lee, 
590. T.arleton-s attempt to capture, 339. Commis- 
sioner on the Treaty of Peace, in l'^^^,' •^■c, -i'^'f: 
man of the Committee of Congress, I7s4, on Slaveij , 
his report, 5:34. Denounces the slaye-tr.ade. as pirati- 
cal 593. Secretary of Foreign Affairs, 1 .s9, 3.0. His 
disagreement with Hamilton, 374. IIis remarks re- 
specUng Algerine piracies, 3S1 : and on < oms and 
Coinase, 372. Vice-President of the Lmted States, in 
1796 38.3. President, ISOi), SSS. Ee-elected, rfJb. 
His embargo, 1807, 402, 403. His account fj Log^;"' 
26. The motto on his seal, 130. Death of, 4^j7. Poi - 
traits and autograph of, 389, 589. Notice of, 388, rfbJ. 

Jeffreys, Colonel, 112, 113. 

Jennings. Colonel, 416. 

Jenifer, Daniel, of St. Thomas, 2o6, 629. 

Jersey. Grant from Parliament to, in lio6, 200. \N est, 
139. Union of the Jerseys, 161. 

Jersey Pri-'ion-Shij). 259. 

Jessuff. Bashaw of Tripoli, 392. 

Jessup, Thomas S. At Fort Dade ; notice of, 4C>. 

Jesuits, The. Orisin of, 130. Missionaries, Is". 1 lu ii 
Influence over the Indians 22 130. ^...^..iri 

John, King of Portugal. His Kxpedition to Amonea, 
47. Names the Cape of Good Hope, ,,i. 

"e/b/m^rf«'«-V frigate, 4-38. , ■„ aoak ±73. 

Johnson, C.^ve. Postmaster-General, n 1845, 4.8. 

Johnson, Isaac, and Lady Arabella, 1. 

Johnson, Sir John, 278, .37:!. 

^^ll^^o^;: ^^i^^^^o^SSi^of the united 

jJIISs^,' K^h!^p M.. Colonel. 424. Vice-President 

of the United States, 469. 
.ToiivsciN" lioBERT, Governor, 1.1. .«.,.. 

.louNsoN Ti^^^^^^^^^^^ Nominates Washington as 

Commander-in-chief, 23S. ,., 



Johnson, Sir William. IIis exploit against Diosk.111, 

190. His Expedition against Crown Point, \<>, l^'J. 

Accompanies (Jem-ral Priiloaux to Fort Niagara, 200. 

At the battle of Quebec, 1760, 20.3. Notice of, 278. 
JoiiNso.N, William Samiei., 860, 556, 029. 
Johnstone, George. Commissioner sent to America, 

in 1778, 286. 
Jones, John Pai'i., Commodore. IIis exploits, 306, 807. 

Sails for Holland, in 1779. !W. His fleit, in 1779, Wis. 

Congress presents a cold modal to him, 308. Portrait 

and autograph of. 807. Notice of, 8116. 
Jones, Tho.mas Ap Catf^sby, Lieutenant, 439. 
Jones, Sib William. Decides against the Duke of 

York's claim to New Jersey, IfiO. 
Jones, Captain. Of the sloop " Wa-fp," 415. 
JoNKs, Willie, of North Carolina, 2.')0. 



tio>KS, n iLLib, Ol i^urLii \„uroiiiia, i.»ii. 

Judiciary of the United States, 868, 869, C23, 624, 626. 

(A\. 
Jumel, Madame, 2.59. 
Jumonville, M. Death of, 18.3. 
Jury, Trial bv. Established in the Colony of Virginia, 

1621,106. 

Kalb: see De Kalb. 

Kamehameha, King. Death of, in 18.54, 519. 

Kane, Judge. His action, in the case of Whceler':< 

slaves, 52(5. 
Kane. Elisha K., Dr. IIis Expedition in search of Sir 

.lohn Franklin, in 1853; portrait and notiei- of, 510. 
Kansas. Boundaries of, 519. Kansas-Nebraska Bill. 

Is54, 519, 520, 521. Civil war in, 1855, 529-531. 
Kansas Indians. 20, 32. 
Kan-tas Hirer. 2o, 21. 
Kaskaskia Indians, 19. 
Ka.'<kaKkia. Captured by Major Clarke, 303. 
Kayingehaga Indians, 28. 

Keane, General, 4:39. t^- -o, 

Kearney, Stephen W., Colonel. At Santa Iv, 480. 

At San Gabriel. 487. Notice of, 486. 
A.V(/«, Battle of the, 285. 
Keith, Sir William. Advises the pohcy of the fatamp 

Act, 172S, .541. ^ „ ^. 

Kendall, Amos. Postmaster-General, 18.36, 4.0. 
Ktnnehec. Sir John Popham at, in 1607, 73. 
Kensington, Pliiladelidiia, 96. 
Kent, Chancellor, 613. 
Kent Is/and, 62. 

Kenton, Simon. Joins Major Clarke, 308. 
Kentucky. Added to the Union, in 1792, 377. 
Keppel, Admiral, 185. 
Kettle Creek. Skirmish at, in 1< .9, 295. 
Key, Francis S., 487. 

Kickapno Indians, 17, 18. .,,... 

KiDD, Captain. His Expedition against the pirates; 
executed, 149. ._ 

Kieft, Sir William, Governor, 140. Recalled in 164. , 
death of, 141. . . , . t a im 

King Eufis. :356. American minister at London, 401. 
Nominated for Vice-President of the United ft.ite&,in 
IsoO 396 4lU. Nominatedfor President, in 181 1,44<). 
Portrait and autograph of, 395. Notice of, 396. Signer 
of the Constitution, 629. r^t,„A 

King, William R. Vice-President of the United 

States; death of, .513. 
King, Samuel W., 477. 

King George's War, 186. . , — , _ o« 

King Philip. His father ; last of the Waoipanoags^ 21. 
Arouses the New England tribes asrainst the Lnglisb, 
2^> His hostilitv to the White Men: attacks Ply- 
mouth men ; is"bcsie<:ed and flees, 12o. His war of 
^termination, 126, 127. Death, 22, 128. His son, sold 
a-s a slave, 128. 
S^'S^i^'' Major Ferguson at, in 1780. 319. 
A-St'^'l'NewYork. Burned, 288, 297. 

King "'»«'"'"'^'i'"■^^•^V, -n^ 
■k'.vvuv TI S Co <inel, 524, .525. , _ 

kInsfy,' James. Member of the first Continental Con- 
gress, 1774, 483. 

SLAND-'si^irFL, Rev. Missionary to the Sis N«- 
^"t^ns; portri^t and autograph of. *5. Notice of. 25, 

Kittaning. Chastisement of the Indians at, 198. 
KnigMa-erravt, of Europe, 14. 
Kni^teneaust Indiam.Yl. 

Knowlton, Colonel. Death of, 258. „, r- ,, 

Knox HtiRT, General. Takes possession of F».t 

George, 85«J, 351. At Washington's last Interview- 



658 



INDEX. 



with his ofiBcers, 352. Secretary of War, in 1789 ; por- 
trait ot; .370. Notice, 85U. 

Knypbausen, General. At Brandywine, 273. At 
Springfield. 320. At Westchester, 259. At New 
York, in 1779, 309. 

KoNoscnioNi. The name given to the Five Nations, 
23. 

KosciuszKO, Thaddebs. At Fort Ninety-six, 336. 
Portrait and notice of, 336. 

Kossuth, Lodis. His tour in the United States, 511. 

KoszTA, Martin. Hungarian refugee, 518. 

Labrador. Norwegian voyagers driven on the coast 
of, in 1002; explored, in 1002, 35. Discovered by 
Cabot, in 1497, 46. Coast of, explored by Weymouth, 
58. 

La CoUe. Battle at, in 1814, 432. 
Laconia. Territory of, 79, 80. 

La Fayette, General. His first interview with Wash- 
ington. 272. At Brandywine, 272, 453. At Betlile- 
hem, 273. At Monmouth, 288. In Rhode Island, 2S9. 
Obtains aid from France, for the American cause, 306. 
His return from France, 1780, 321. In Virginia, 330, 
339. Pursues Cornwallis, 1781, 339. Visits the United 
States, in 1824, 453. Lays the corner-stone of a mon- 
ument to De Kalb, 1825, 316. Portrait and notice of, 
278. 

Lake Champlain. Discovered, 59. 

Lake Erie. Battle near, in 1755, 190. Indians on, 19. 

Lake George. Map of, 194. 

Lake Huron. Discovered, 59. Indians on, 17. 

Lake Miclugan. Indians on, 18. 

Lake Ontario. Indians on, 17. 

Lake Superior, 18. 

Lake Winiiipeg, 31. 

Lamb, John, Colonel, 242, 270. 

Lancaster, Massachusetts. Burnt, 127. 

Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The Colonial Congress meets 
at, 588. 

ImwI. Price of, in Pennsylvania, in 1681, 96. 

Lands. Public, of the United States, 372. Indian, 
ceded to the United States, 24. 

Lane, Ralph, Governor, 55. 

Lane, General. At Puebla, 1S47, 494. 

Langdon, John, 356, 629. 

Languages, Indian, 12. 

Lang worthy, Edward. Signer of the Articles of Con- 
federation, 611. 

Lansing, John J., 356. 

La Place, M. Anecdote of Ethan Allen and, 234. 

Lapland. Comprised in Scandinavia, 34. 

Las Casas. His part in the slave-trade, 533. 

Lathrop, Captain, 126. 

Laudonniere. His expedition, with emigrants, to 
America, in 1564 ; fate of the emigrants, 50. 

Laurens, Henry. Commissioner on the Treaty of 
Peace, 1782, 343. Signer of the Articles of Confedera- 
tion, 611. 

Laurens, John, Colonel. Anecdote of him and Count 
de Vergennes, 329. Death of, in 1782, 348. 

La Vega, General, 482, 483. 

Lawrence, Governor. His expedition against Acadie, 
185. 

Lawrence, James, Captain. Notice of, 429. 

Lawrence, Richard, Colonel, 111. Executed, 112. 

Lawrence, Major, 438. 

"Latorence^' ship, 420. 

Lear, Tobias, Colonel. Consul-General in the Medi- 
terranean ; his treaty with the Bashaw of Tripoli, 
1805, 395. Compelled by the Dcy of Algiers to pur- 
chase his freedom, 1812, 445. 

Lebanon. Dr. Wheelock's school at, 25. 

Ledyard, John, the Traveler. His observation respect- 
ing the inhabitants of Eastern Siberia, 11. 

Ledyard, William, Colonel, 340. 

Lee, Arthur. One of the American embassy to 
France, 1776, 266. 

Lee, Charles, General. A Captain at Ticonderoga, 
1758; wounded, 197. Major-General, 1775, 238. At 
Boston, 239. At New York, 248. At North Castle, 
259. Urged by Washington to reinforce him, 260; 
captured, 261. At Monmouth, 288. Insults Washing- 
ton, 283. His letter to Wayne, 298. His remark re- 
specting Gates's laurels, 316. Portrait of, 248. 

Lee, Charles. Attorney-General, 1796, 383. Notices 
of, 248, 288. Portrait ot; 248. 

Lee, Francis Lightfoot. Signer of the Declaration of 
Independence, 602 ; and of "the Articles of Confedera- 
tion. 611. 

Lee, Henrt, General. His exploit at Paulus"s Hook, 



1779, 94, 298. With General Marion, 1781, 335. On 
the Savannah River, 1781, 336. At Fort Ninety -six, 
337. Suppresses the Whiskey Insurrection, 1794,378. 
His funeral oration on Washington, 387. Portrait 
and notice of, 333. 
Lee, Ludwell. Anecdote of him, when a boy at 

school, 251. 
Lee, Richard Henrt. Member of the first Continental 
Congress, 1774, 588. His Resolution on American 
Independence, 25i», 251, 589. John Adams's account 
of him as a speaker ; Jetferson's letter to, 590. Signer 
of the Articles of Confederation, 611. Notice of, '250. 

Leoarb, Hugh S. Attorney-General of the United 
States, 475. 

Legislative Poicers of Congress, 612. 

Leisler, -Jacob, Governor, 131, 148. Executed, 148. 

Leitch, Major. Death of, 258. 

Le Moyne, James. His- illustrations of the costume 
and customs of the Aboriginals, 50. 

Lenni-Lenape Indians, 17, 20. Subdued by the Five 
Nations, in 1650; their migration, 21. Join the Hu- 
rons, and the Shawnees ; friends of the British during 
the Revolution, 21. Crushed by General Wayne, 
1794, 21. 

Lenox, James. Possesses the original manuscript of 
Washington's Farewell Address, 683. 

Leon, Ponce de, General. At Braceti, 488. 

'■'Leopard'^ frigate, 402. 

Leslie, General, 382. At Charleston, in 1782, 347. 

^'Leranf sloop-t>f-war, 440. 

Levi, M. Successor to Montcalm, 203. 

Lewis, Andrew, General. Notice of, 244. 

Lewis, Francis, 6o2, 611. 

Lewis, Colonel. At Frenchtown, 181.3, 416, 418. 

Lewis and Clarke's Expedition, 395. 

Lewisto7i, Delaware, 92, 94, 430. 

Leiriston, New York. Burnt, 1813, 427. 

Lea-ington. Battle of, 232, 283. 

Lei/den, Netherlands. Puritans at, 77. 

Liberty. The instinctive love of, 207, 208. 

^^Liberty" sloop, 220. 

Liherty-pole. At Plymouth, Massachusetts, 79. 

Lief, Captain.- Sails from Iceland for Greenland, in 
1002, .35. 

Ligonia. Agricultural settlement of, SO. 

LiHOLiHO, Alexander, Prince, 519. 

Lincoln, Earl of, 118. 

Lincoln, Benjamin, General. At Boundbrook, 270. 
Commands the Southern Army, 1778, 294. At 
Charleston, 296. Besieges Savannah, In 1779, 3o5. At 
Charleston, 1780, 309. Surrenders to Clinton, 1780, 
311. At the siege of Yorktown, 342. Suppresses 
Shay's Rebellion, 1787, 353. Portrait of, 294. Notice 
of, 295. 

Lincoln, Levi. Attorney-General of the United 
States, 390. 

"L'Insurgente"' frigate. Captured by the frigate "Coh- 
stellatimi,'" in 1799, 885. 

LispENARD, Leonard. Member of the Stamp Act 
Consress, 556. 

''Little Beir sloop of war, 407. 

Little Osage liiver, 18. 

Little Wabash. Major Clarke at the, 303. 

Liturgy. The use of the, refused by the Puritans, 119. 

Livingston, Edward. Author of the penal code of 
Louisiana, 451. His defense of General .Jackson, 443. 
Portrait, autograph, and notice of, 451, 452. 

Livingston, Philip. Member of the Stamp Act Con- 
gress, 566 ; and of the first Continental Congress, 588. 
Signer of the Declaration of Independence, 602. 

Livingston, Robert. Patroon, 149. 

Livingston, Robert R. Member of the Stamp Act 
Congress, 556. On the Committee on the Articles of 
Confederation, 604 ; and on the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, 251. His memorial to Parliament, 215. 
Author of the Petition to the King, 176.5, 552. His 
connection witli llobert Fulton, 399. Portraits of, 
366, 589. Antci-rajih and notice of, 366. 

Livingston, Willia.m. Member of the first Continental 
Congress, 1774, 588. His Address to the Anglo-Amer- 
ican Colonies, 228, 563. Member of the Convention on 
the Articles of Confederation, 1787, 356. Signer of the 
Constitution, 629. 

Lloyd, Thomas, 162. 

Locke, John. His "Fundamental Constitutions,'' 99, 
164. 

London Company. Send Henry Hudson on an expedi- 
tion to America, 59. Send Captain Newport to Ro- 
anoke Island, 606, 64. New charter of the, 1609, 68. 
Third charter of the, 1612, 70. Dissolved, 81, 106, 107. 



INDEX. 



Go'J 



Logan, John. Mins^o Chief, 20, 2G, 27. 

Longfellow. His Indian Kdda, 23. 

Lony House. Doors of the. 2:3. 

Long Idand, T>\i. (Jianted to the Earl of Stirlins, IW 
Battle of, 254. Plan of tlie battle of, 254. 

Lony Idand Indians. 21, 141. 

Long Island Hound. Explored by Captain Block, ICil 1, 
72. 

Long Parliament. The, 152. Confirms the charter of 
Rhode Island, 157. 

Lopez, General. Invades Cuba, 502, 50S; and is exe- 
cuted, in 1851,5(18. 

Lords Spiritual^ 21S. 

Lords of Trade, \U. 

L'Orient. Naval expedition fitted out at, in 1779, .30S. 

LoitRAiNE, Duke of. Yespueius dedicates a volume to, 
in 1507, 41. 

Los Angelos. Stockton and Fremont take possession 
of, 4S7. 

Lottery Authorized bv Congress, in 177G, 293. 

Loudon, Lord, 191, 192," 193, 194. 

Louis XIV., of France. Revokes the Edict of Nantes, 
166. James II., of England, flees to the court of, 
180. Acknowledges Charles Ed\v.ird, as king of En- 
gland, 134. Acknowledges the Independence of the 
United States, 283. 

Louis Philippe. Dethroned, 511. 

Louisburg. Captured, 136-138. Captured by Am- 
herst, 196. 

Louisiana. Ceded to France in 1800 ; .sold to the 
United States, by Napoleon, 204. Territory; State, 
451. Admitted to the Union, 409. 

Lovelace, Lord, 144, 150. 

LovELL, James. Signer of the Articles of Confedera- 
tion, 611. 

Low, Isaac. Member of the first Continental Congress, 
1774. 588. 

Loyola, Ignatius, 130. 

Ludlow, Captain. Death of, 429. 

LuDWELL, Philip, 165, 167. 

Lundi/'s Lane. Battle of, in 1S14, 433. 

LuTiiEU, Martin, the Reformer, 62. 

Lutherans. Persecuted and slaughtered by Melendez, 
51. 

Lutzen. Battle of, 93. 

Luzerne, M. General Greene's letter to, in 1781, 334. 

Lyell, Sir Charles, 51 T. 

Lyford. Persecuted bv the Pili;rinis, 119. 

Lyman, General. At Fort Eilw.ard, 189-191. 

Lynch, Tho.mas. Member of the Stamp Act Congress, 
556 ; and of the first Continental Congress, 588. On 
the Committee that arranged the plan of a campaign 
against Canada, in 1775, 239. Signer of the Declara- 
tion of Independence, 602. 

M'Clelland, Robert. Secretary of the Interior, in 
1853, 515. 

M'Clure, Captain. Demonstrates the fact of a north- 
west passage round the Arctic coast, 510. 

M'Clure, Ja.mes. Delegate from Virginia to the Con- 
vention on the Articles of Confederation, 1787, 856. 

M'Clure, General. At Fort George, 1818, 427. 

M'Crea, Jane, 277. 

McDonald, Donald and Flora, 248. 

McDougall. General. At Poekskill, 270. Secretary 
of the Continental Board of Admiralty, 1781, 308. 

McDowell, Charles. At King's Mountain, 319. 

McGiLLivRAY. Emperor of the Creeks, 16. 

M'Henry, James. 356, 3S4. Signer of the Constitution 
of the United States, 629. 

M'Kean, Thomas. Member of the Stamp Act Congress, 
556 ; and of the first Continental Congress, 588. Signer 
of the Articles of ConlVderatiou, 611 ; and of the Dec- 
laration of Independeneo. (io2. 

M'Kenzie, William Lyo.n, 472. 

M'Kinney. His History of the Indian tribes, 33. 

McLellan. J., jr., quoted, 33. 

Mac/iia.i, Maine, SO. 

Macomb, General. At Plattsburg, in 1814; notice of, 
4^34. 

Macdonocgii, Commodore. Notice of, 434. His prayer; 
portrait and autograph of, 435. 

" Macedonian'^ frigate, 415, 

Madeira Wine. John Hancock's cargo of, 2'20. 

Madison, Jame-s, 356. One of the authors of the Feder- 
alist, 361. Signer of the Constitution of the United 
States, 629. His view of the Revenues of the United 
State.s, 367. Secretary of State, 390. President of the 
United States, l-u;i. tli4. Re-elected, 415. Portrait, 
autograph, and notice of, 405. 



I Madoc. Son of Prince Owen Gwigncdd, migrates to 
America, 32. 

Madrid. Spoci.il messenger sent to, respectine the af- 
fair of the /f/,i,/l- ir.(/-)i,„'. .Vil. 

Macaw, Colnnel. At Fort Washington, 2.18. 

Maine. Discovered; visited by Pring and Wovmoutb 
OS. Indian tribes of, l'.i7. Settlement of. so.' 12'2. A 
part ol Ma.ssaehusetts until 1S'20, 129. A Slate 402 
Boundary of, 4.V2. 

Mai2e. The first that wjus found by Miles Standlsh. 116. 

Manc/iesler. Burnt, 1si:3, 4-j7. 

Mandan Indians. White Indians; supposed Welsh 
origin of the, 32. 

Manhattan Indians. Sell Manhattan Island to the 
Dutch, 21. 

Manhattan Island. Sold to the Dnt.h by the Manhat- 
tan Indiau.s, 21. Purchased by .Miniiit' 1.S9. (trldn 
of the name, 48. The fort at the southern cxtreuiitv 
of, 7-2. 

Manitou. Indian doctrine of, 15, 16. 

Manly, Captain, 308. 

Mannahoac Indian.^. 17. 

Manning, John. The traitor, 147. 

Mansfield, Lord. His decision respecting slavery, 533. 

Mansfield, Captain, 4S1. 

Mantko. Indian Chier; Lord of Roanoke, 55, 56. 

Manufactures. American. 177, 178, 216. 447, 458. 

Marchant, Henry. Signer of the Articles of Confed- 
eration, 611. 

Marches A, Father, 38. 

Marcy, William L. Secret.ary of War, 1845, 478. Sccre- 
of State. 1853, 515. 

Mares. First taken to Virginia, in 16()9, 68. 

Mariana. Territorv of, 79. 

Maria Theresa, I-!mpress of Austria, 187. 

Marietta, Ohio. Silver cup found in an ancient mound 
at, 11. 

Marine Committee of Congress, 308. 

Manner's Comjja-ss, 39. 

Marion. General, 204. In South Carolina, 1780, 314. 
Exploits of, 317, 318, 319, 32(i, 33S. Refuses to drink 
wine, 817. His first apjiearance at Gates's camp, 318. 
Anecdote of him and a British officer at Charlestown, 
320. His camp destroyed, in 17n1, .'H^o; his brigade 
defeated, in his absence, 345. Portrait, autograph, 
and notice of, 317. 

Markiiam, William, 96. 161. 162, 16-3. 

Marllioroui/h. Massachusetts. Burnt, 127. 

Marriage, Indian, 14, 15. 

Marriage Contracts. Restraints on, by Andros, 130. 

Marsh, Colonel. His Expedition against Port Roval, 
135. 

Marshall, John. Envov to France. 1797, 385. An- 
nounces the death of W.ishington, 386. Administers 
the oath of ofliee to Presidint Monroe. 1817, 446 ; Pres- 
ident Adams, lv.V>. 4.-,4; President Jackson, 1829, 461. 
Portrait, autograph, and notice of, 351. 

Martha's Vinei/ard. Discovered, 57, 58. Christian 
Indians at, 1'23. 

Martin, Alexander. Member of the Convention, 
17S7, on the Articles of Confederation. 356. 

Martin, Luther. Delegate from Maryland to the 
Convention, 1787, on the Articles of Confederation, 
356. 

"M\ry Johnson," the assumed name of Arthur Lee, 
266. 

Man/land. Settlement of, 80-82. Origin of the name 
of, si. Roman Catholic colony in, 62. The Seneca 
Indians make war u[(on the colonists, S'2, 110. Dec- 
laration of Rights, in 1639, 161. Civil war in, 1646; 
Toleration Act; an asylum for persecuted Church- 
men and Puritans, 15'l. Colonial government of; 
civil war in, in 16.").">. 1.52. History of. 151. 

Masok GEoit(;E. Delegate from ^ irginin to the Con- 
vention, 1787, on the .\rticles of Confederation, 356. 

Mason, John. Merchant ami naval commandor, 79. 
Governor of Portsmouth, England, SO. Controversy 
of the lieirs of, 129. 

Mason, Jons, Captain. Exterminates the Peqnods. 
87 88 

Mason, John Y. Attorney-General of the United 
States. 1845, 478. 

Massachusetts Indians. 22. 

Massachusetts. Settlement of, 62. History of, in 1620, 
114. Colony; charter, 117. Ch.iracter t>t the colony, 
119 ; rapid growth of the colony, creates alarm in Enij- 
land, 1'20. Fortifications in, 121. Joins the confed- 
cr.acv of colonies. \MS, 121. Government of; com- 
merce of, with the West Indies, 1'2'2. Growth of the 
colony, 129. Controversy of, with the heirs of Gorges 



G60 



INDEX. 



and Mason, 129. A royal province, 132. Cost of 
settlinff, 2o9. Early legislation of, 175. Grant from 
I'arlianient to, 175S, 2u6. Assembly's view of taxa- 
tion, 219. A flotilla fitted out by, in 1T70, 299. Board 
of Admiralty of, 807. KeboUion in, in 17S7, 353. 

M\.ss.\soiT. Chief of the Wampanoags, 9J. Sachem, 
114,115. His sons, 21, 124. 

Jfassaya. Capturecl, in 1S55, 527. 

JtlATHER, Cotton. His controversy with Calef; liis be- 
lief in witchcraft, 133. Portrait and autograph of, 133. 
Notice of, 134. 

Matthews, Joxatiian. Signer of the Articles of Con- 
federation, 611. 

MvTTHEws, Samuel. Governor of Virginia, 109. 

Matthews, General (British), 297, 321). 

Mattooks, John, Captain, 319. 

Mdumee River, 19. 

Maurice, Prince of Nassau, 71. 

Mauritius, The. Origin of the name, 71. 

Maury, Lieutenant. "His acoount of the drift of sea- 
weed, 39. 

Maverick, Richard, 123. 

M.vwHOOD, Lieutenant-Colonel. At Princeton, 2C'?. 

May, Cornelius Jacobsen. First Director of New 
Netherland, 73. 

May, Jacobus, Captain, 93, 94. 

May, Captain. Captures General La Vega, 4S2. 

'•'■ May- Flower,''' Puritan vessel, 77. Picture of, 77, 7S. 

Mazeon. Descendant of Uncas, 21. 

Meeklenburg Dedarittion of Independence, 237. 

Medal. Presented by Congress to Washington, after 
the battle of Gerniantown, 275; to General Wayne, 
29S; to the captors of Andre 327. Struck by Louis 
XIV., after the repulse of Phipps, 131. 

Medford, Massachusetts. Burned, 127. 

Meihci, Lorenzo de. Vcspucius's letter to, 41. 

Meeting Home. First, at Hartford, Connecticut, S6. 

Mekerrin Indiana, 23. 

Meiqs, Colonel, 271. 

*'■ Melampus," ship, 401. 

Melendez, Pedro, Governor of Florida, 5t, 51. 

Memorial to Parliament. Livingston":?, 215. Otis's, 
552-556. 

Mrndoza, Cardinal, 3S, 45. 

Menomonee Indians, 17, 19. 

Mekcer, Hugh, General, 192, 259. Death of; notice of, 
269. 

Mercer, John Francis, 356. 

Meredith, William M. Secretary of the Treasury, 
1849, 499. 

Mesilla Valley. Dispute respecting the, 515. 

Metaoomet: see King Philii". 

Metamoras. General Ampudia at, 4S1. 

Mexico. Origm of the name, 493. Civilization and the 
arts in, in 1521, 43. Burr's proposed invasion of, 396. 
The United States at war with. 4S0. The City of, 
captured by General Scott, 494. Treaty of Peace be- 
tween the United States and, in 1S4S, 497. Treaty of, 
vi^ith the United States, respecting boundaries, 1S.54, 
522. 

Miami Indians, 17, 24, 25. Treaty with the, in 1S09, 
40S. Their territory, 19. Conspire against the En- 
glish, 1763, 2(5. 

MiANTONOMOii, Narraganset Sachem, 21, 87, 91, 125. 

Mic.ANopv. Head Sachem of the Seminoles, 466. 

Michigan. Lake: see La/ce Mirhigan. Peninsula, 
Indians on the, 13. Territory, 306. State of, admit- 
ted to the Union, 469. 

Michiginiia Indians, 19. 

Micmac Indians, 22. 

Middle Plantation, The, 111. 

Middleton, Arthur. Signer of the Declaration of In- 
dependence, 6J2. 

Middleton, Henry. Member of the first Continental 
Congress. 1774, 588 ; President of the Congress, 578. 

Mifflin, Thomas, General, 254, 257, 268, 356. Member 
of the first Continental Congress, 1774, 5SS. Signer 
of the Constitution of the United States, 629. "His 
address to Washington, 1782 ; portrait and notice of. 
852. 

Milhorne. Deputy Governor, 131, 148. Executed, 148. 

Militia. Of the United States, 630. 

Miller, Colonel. Defeats Tecumseh. near Browns- 
town, 411. At the battle of Lundy's Lane, 433. 

Minetaree Indians, 81, 32. 

Mi?igo Indians, 23. Logan, the :Mingo Chief, 20. 

Minqua Indians : see Jfohajrk Indians. 

Minnesota Territory. Origin and signification of the 
name; rapid progress of, 503. Purchase of lands in, 
by the United States, 1851, 569. 



MiNON, General. Driven from Santillo, 4SG. 

Minsi Indians. Tlieir territorj-, 21. 

Mint. Of the United States, 372, 373. 

Minuit, Peter, Governor, 85, 93, 139. 

MiRABEAu, M. His observation on the Declaration of 
ln<lependence, 603. 

Mirrors. Ancient, made of isinglass, 11. 

Mischianza, The, at Philadelphia, 2S5. 

Mishairan. The foundation of Charleston laid at, 117. 

Mississagues Indians, 17, 205. 

Missinsipjii. Territory, 388. State admitted to the 
Union, 1S17, 44s. 

Missouri Indians, 82. 

Missouri. Koman coin found in, 11. State, 44S, 452. 

" Missouri CoTn2)romise,'' The, 452. 

Mi^-ouri River, 516. 

>iiTciiELL, Nathaniel, 355. 

Mitchell, Stephen M., 855. 

Mitchell, Colonel, 432. 

Mobile. The British repulsed at. in 1814, 438. 

Mobilian Indian.% 29-31. Their lands; their tribes, 
29. Origin of their hostility to the white people, 42. 
Population of the, in 1650, 31. Language of the, 12. 

3[ohainmedan soldier. Picture of a, 892. 

Moha irk Indians, 2S. Other names of the, 23. Turtle 
tribe of the, 15. One of Five Nations, 21. Active 
enemies of the Americans, 20. Hi-a-wat-ha"s address 
to the, 24. Eeftisc to join King Philip, 127. At New 
Amsterdam, 141. Claim sovereignty over the Elver 
Indian.s, 141. Allies of Colonel \VilIiams, 190. Join 
St. Leger, 278. 

Mohawk Valley. Devastation of the. In 1778, 290. 

Mohegan Indians, 17, 86. Their territory; vassals of 
the Five Nations, 21. A Chief of the, urges the JCng- 
lish to settle in Connecticut Valley, 85. 

Mohegan Plain, 21. 

Molinos del Rey. Battle of, 1847, 494. 

Monokton, C(donel, 185, 201. Grave of, 288. 

Money. Continental, 24.5. The first coined, in the 
United States 122. 

Monk, General, 98. 

Monmouth. New Jersey. Battle of, 287. Map of the 
battle, 288. 

Jfonocan Indians, 17. 

Monroe, J,ames. His treaty with Great Britain, in 
1806. 401. President of the United States, 1817; his 
tour, 446. Re-elected President, 1820, 453. "Monroe 
doctrine," 448, 513. Portrait and autograph of, 447. 
Notice of, 446. 

Monroe, Colonel. Surrenders Fort William Henry; 
his troops slaughtered, 194. 

aroNRoK. Major. At Point Isabel, 481. 

MontiKjiws //idiaH-i. 17. 

Montauk. Iu<lians, 21. 

Mo.VTCALM, Mar(juis de, 192, 194. Notice of, 120. Mon- 
ument to, 202. 

M0NTE.4.N0, Don Miguel de, 173. 

3Ionterey. Battle of, 484. 

Montevideo, South America. Ancient swords, helmet, 
.and shield found at, 11. 

Montezuma. The reign of, 10. His deputation to 
Cortez, 43. 

Montgomery', John, Governor, 150. 

Montgomery, Colonel (^British). L.ays waste the Cher- 
okee countrj', 204. 

Montgomery, Richard, General. 2-33. At Boston ; at 
St. John's; at Montreal, 240, 241. Assaults Quebec, 
242. Death of; portrait of, 242. Notice of, 240. 

Montgomery'. Commodore. Takes possession of San 
Fnuu'isco, 487. 

Moiitife/lo, Virginia, 404. 

Montreal. Origin of the name, 48. Surrender of, in 
1760, 203. 

3Ionurnent to Uneas, 21. 

MooERS, General, 435. 

Moore, James. Governor of South Carolina, 168-170. 

Moore, Colonel. Son of the Governor of South Caro- 
lina ; captures Tuscarora Indians, 168. 

Morarian.s. At Bethlehem, nurse La Fayette, after his 
being wounded at Brandywine, 274. 

Morehead, Rev. Mr., 216. 

Morgan, Daniel, General. At Quebec, 242. At Saratoga, 
282. At the Cowpen.s. 331. Portrait and notice of, 331. 

Morgan, Wiillia.m, 457. 

]\IoRGAN, Colonel. At Agua Frio, 436. 

Morocco. War of the United St.ates with, 1801, 890. 

Mormons, The. Petition of, for a civil government, 
499. Notice of, 503, 504. 

Morris, Gouverneur, 185, 856. Signer of the Articles 
of Confederation, 611 ; and of the Constitution, 629. 



INDEX. 



G61 



His remarks on Coins and Currency, 372. Ilis part 
in the Eric Canal, 457. Portrait and notice of, 364. 

MoKiiis, Lkwis. Signer of the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, 6015. 

MoKitis, Lewis. First lloyal Governor of New Jersey, 
161. 

MoKKis, EoHEKT. Supplies Washington with money, 
at Trenton, '203. Agent of Marine; his privateers, 
3(tS. His National Bank, 8'29. Signer of the DccUara- 
tion of Independence, GU2 ; of the Articles of Confed- 
eration, 611 ; and of the Constitution of tlie T'nitod 
Suites, 6'29. At the Convention, 1787, on tlu^ Articles 
of Confederation, 356. His views of harmonizing the 
money of the United States, 372. Portrait and auto- 
graph of, '263. Notice of, 264. 

Morris, Roger. Notice of, 259. 

MoRKis, Commodore. His exploit on the Penobscot 
Itiver, 1S14, 4;3S. 

Moiutis, Miijor. Death of, 269. 

Jilorrisiann. Purchase of, by Lewis Morris, 161. 

Morristoicii, New Jersey. Washington's winter quar- 
ters at, 269, 3U6. Sufferings of the American troops 
at, 806. 

Morse, Samuel F. B. Portrait and notice of, 507, 508. 
His tour to Eussia, 50S. 

MouTOX, John. Member of the Stamp Act Congress, 
556; and of the first Continental Congress, 1774^ 5SS. 
Signer of the Declaration of Independence, 602. 

MoTTE, Rebecca. Portrait, autograph, and notice of, 
335, 336. 

MocLTRiE, General, 204, 295. Portrait and notice of, 
249. 

Moundx. Indian, 15. Ancient, in Ohio, 11. 

Mount Atho". 60. 

Mount !>(• fill lice, 276. 

Mount Hope. 90, 124. 

Mount Hope Bay. A Scandinavian child born on the 
shore of, 85. 

Mount IntJependence. 276. 

Mount Vernon. Leonard Calvert at, in 1634, S2. 

Mummies. Found in .\merica, 11. 

MuRDOCK, William. Member of the Stamp Act Con- 
gress, 556. 

MuKRAY, General, 201, 203. 

Murray, W. V. Envoy to France, in 1799, 385. 

Muskingum River, 21. 

Miuskogee Indiiuis. 29. 

3£u.<iquito (\i(itif, 52o. King of Musquito; Indians; ter- 
ritory. 524-526. 

Myatic Hirer, 87. 

Nahant, 57. Captain Block at, in 1614, 72. 
Kan^emond Hirer. Settlement on the, in 1609, 97. 
minted. The Edict of, 166. 

Nanticdke Indians. Allies of the Five Nations, 17, 20. 
Ji\intucket. Discovery of, 57. Christian Indians at, 123. 
Napoleon : see Bonaparte. 

Narraganset Indiirnfi, 21, 22, 86. Propose to exter- 
minate the white people, 87. Treaty of Peace with 

the, 125. Join King Philiii, 127. 
Narragnniiet Bay. Penetrated by Captain Block, 72. 
Marrous, The, in New Vor I'ay, 59. 
Nap.vaf.7., Pami'iiilo, Governor of Florida, 43, 44. 
Nash, (iovernor. 830. 

Ktislirille. Tennessee. An idol found near, 11. 
Niixxau lliill I'olltge, at Princeton, New Jersey, 17S. 
Nnti-lu'z Indianx. 29. 30. Population of, in 1650, 81. 

Language of the. 12. 
National. Bank of the United States, 372. Curreni\ . 

372. Debt, in 17S2, 858. 
Naumheiig <\il*>ny, 117. 
"JVautilus" brig. 414. 
Nauroo, Illinois, 504. 
Xnrajo Indiann, 488. 
Xaral Store.H. Imported from America into Great 

Biitain, 2o6. 
Xuriqation Act, The. of 1651, 109, 123, 177. 
Xan'i. American. Origin of the, 246, 246, 8S2. Rank 

of Commanders, SOS." State of, in 1811, 407; in 1812, 

414,415; in 1814, 445. 
Xarif, British, 206. ^5. 
Nral, Captjiin. Death of. 269. 
Xelirn.ska. Boundaries of, 519, 520. 
Negro I'lot. in New York, 150. 
Negro Slaren : see Slaves. 
Neilson, J.)iix. 356. 
NEII.SON, Tin A8, jr. Siirner of the Declaration of In- 

ikpendence ''02. Member of the Convention on the 

Articles of nfedcration, 604. 
Neoslw India. . 24. 



Neutral. Indiann, 23. 

''^'ite.l* !«*'"''''"'■ ^"''""t' "^ ^^"'«'> deputies at. in 

Neicark, New Jersey, 260. 

'^tr -^yi'-rl"''^'' ^"^'^ "^ ^^^ "'""'' "'■' ^-' IJ""'^>:- 

New Brunswick. New Jersey 2G0 

Newburg Addrenxex, 349. ' 

Newcastle, Delaware, 93, 143. William Penn at. In 1CS2, 

New England Indians, 17, 22. Invaded by the Five 
Nations, 24. 

New England. Scandinavians visit the coast of, 84 
L.\plored by Captain John Smith, in 1614. Origin of 
the name. 74. Propo.scd union of the coloni.s of, in 
1(.8(, 121. Population of, in 1675, 1-26. Eflects of 
King Philip's War in, 129. 

Niir England House. Picture of a, 176. 

Neir/oundland. Portuguese settlement in, 47. Seen 
by Cabot, in 1497, 46. Cod-fishery at, discovered by 
Cabot, 47. \ isits to, bv early navigators. 62 

New France. The name given by Verazzani to the re- 
gions discovered by hiui, 48. Chamidain's History of, 

New flampshire. Origin of the name, 80. Settlement 
of, 62, 12-2. A royal province, 80, 129. Grant to, 1770, 
206. 

New Haven. Colony, 121, 127, 154. 

Neic Haven, Connecticut, 88. 

NeiB Jersey. Oriijin of the n.ame, 159. Wampum man- 
ufactured in, 13. Swedes in, 62. Founded. 98, l.')9 
Sale of, by the Duke of York, 144. The Dutch take 
possession of, in 1763, 147. Discontents in. on account 
of the half-pennv rent, 159. Invaded bv Matthews, 
in 1780, 320. History of the colony of, 15'9. 

Neiv London. Burnt by Arnold, 840. 

New Mexico. Number of Indians in. in 185.8. .3.3. A 
Territory of the United States, in 1848, 497. 601. 
Claims of Te.xas to portions of. 499. Petition of, for a 
civil government, in 1850, 499. Boundary between, 
and Chihuahua, 515. 

NeiB Net/ierland, 72. A county, 78. Seal of; first child 
born in, 73. Founded, 1-39. Given by Charles II. to 
his bnither James, Duke of York, 113. 144. 

New Orleanx. Ceded to Spain, '2o4. Battle of, 181."), 489. 

Newport, Ciiristopiiee, Captain, 65, 6S. Arrives with 
supplies, in 1608, 67. 

Newport, Rhode Island, 48. Teriiay's fleet at, 17S0, 821. 
Tower at : see Tower. 

New Rochelle, New York. Mrs. Hutchinson Uikes ref- 
uge at; her fate, 1'20. 

Neic Scotland, 182. 

Newspapers. In the American colonies ; in the I'nited 
States, in 1850, 179. 

Netc Sweden, 98, 143. 

Neic H7«'/.<«>r, New York. Washington's head-quarters 
at, in 1781. 828. 

Netc York City. Dutch settlement at, 62. Origin of, 
7'2, 144. Picture of, a century ago, 144. Kxpeilition 
from, to Canada, 181. Colony at, 139. The Dutch 
take po.ssession of. in 1678, 147. Evacuated, 1783, 35t'. 
Great fire at, 1SC>, 471. 

Nexci York. History of the colony of, 1.39 ss. firants 
from Parliament to, in 1756. 206. Brodhead's lli-lory 
of the State of, 72. General Knyphauscn at, 3o9. The 
Continental Consress at, 588. 

New York Bay. 4-^. 57. 

New York Gcisettt newspaper. 150. 

New York Weekly Journal, 150. 

Nezperce Indians. .8;1. 

Niaqara Falh. Battle at, 1814, 4.38. Yillnge at, burnt, 
1818, 427. 

Niagara Frontier. Map of the, 484. Shirley's cxjiedl- 
tion to the, 185, 189. 

'■^Niagara" ship, 4'2.T 

Niantic Indians. 87. 

Nicaragua. Its jurisdiction over the Must^nlto Terri- 
tory. 624, 525. Costa Rica declares war against, in 
1856, 626. Affairs of. 526, 527. 

Nicholson, Francis, Governor, 148, 171. 

Nicholson, Colonel, 186. 

Nicola, Colonel. His letter fo Washington, proposing 
to make him a kins:. 17-«'.>, 849. 

Nicolas, Father. Removes the church-bell from Deer- 
fleld, 136. 

Nicollet, M. Ills account of the murder of Pontlac, 
18. 

XiroLLS, RiciiAKP, Colonel, 123, 144. 

Ninety-six. Oriffin of the name, 885. Siege of, by 
Greene, 1781, 830. 



662 



INDEX. 



NiNiORET. Cousin of Miantonomob, 21. At New Am- 
sterdam, 141, 142, 154, 155. 

Nimpuc I/K/idiiK, '22, 125. 

Nohilitij. (»ii;;in of the exclusive privileges of the, C3. 
Titles (vf, not trrunteil by the United States, (il9. 

Non-Cdiirhrmintis. Persecution of the, 7(5. 

JVo/y;>M-,'Viririnia, 244, 297. 

Jforman Ship. Picture of a, 35. 

North, Lord. His Conciliatory Bills, 2S6. Ilis man- 
ner of receivins the news of the capture of Cornwallis, 
in 17S1, 345. Ketires from office, 1782, 345. Portrait 
and notice of, 224. 

North-easteni Passage. 59. 

North-eastern Boundary Question, 476. 

North Carolina. 98. Number of Indi.ins in, in 1853, 
32. Colony, 167. Opposes taxation, 223. Joins the 
Confederacy, in 1789, 371. 

North Castle. The Am#rican camp at. 259. 

Northfield, Connecticut, 126. 

Northman. Picture of a, 34. 

Northmen. Discover America, 34. Mariners, very ad- 
venturous, 35. 

North Point. Battle of, 1814, 437. 

North River, 94. 

North Sen. Islands of the, 85. 

North Virqinia, 63. 

North- West Paxsage, 52, 58. 

North- irt «< Territory, 363, 534. 

Noi'way. The Capes of, 59. Comprised in Scandina- 
via, 34. Vessels of, sail from Iceland for Greenland, 
in 1002, 35. 

Norwich, Connecticut, 25. Indians, and Indian Buri.il- 
place at, 21. 

Norridgewock Indians, 22. 

Nottoivay Indians, 23. 

Nova Scotia, 58, 132, 136. De Monts at, in 1604, 58. 
Origin of, 80. Portuguese settlement in, 47. 

Nova Cmsarea, 93. 

Nueces, The. General Taylor at, 481. 

Nullifiers of South Carolina, 463. 

Nunez, Vasco : see Balboa. 

Oath. Of whom required by the United States, and 

■what for, 628. 
Oconee River, 28. 
Ocracock Inlet, 55. 
Ogden, Kobert. Member of the Stamp Act Congress, 

556. 
Ogdenshurg. Capture of, in 1813, 425. 
Ogeechee River, 2S. 

Ogilvie, Captain. At Queenstown, 1812, 413. 
Oglethorpe, James Edward, General. His voyage to 

America, in 1732, 100. Founds Savannali, 62, 100. 

His first interview with the Indians .at Savannah, 30. 

His foit, 100. His colony, 171. Meets fifty Indian 

Chiefs in Council, in 17-33; purchases lanil from them, 

103. His contests with the Spaniards, 172. Portrait 

of, 104. Notice of, 99. 
O'Haka, General. At the siege of Torktown, 342. 
Ohio. State ; its progress, 390. Persian coin found in, 

11. 
Ohio Company, The. Organized, 863. George II.'s 

grant to, 181. 
Oh-nen-ta-ha, or Onondaga Lalvo, 23. 
Ojeda. Accompanies Vespucius to the West Indies 

and South America, in 1499, 41. Vespucius an officer 

under, 60. 
Old Dominion, The. Origin of the name, 109. 
Oldham, .John, 87. 

Oliver, Chief Justice. Impeached, 597. 
Omaha Indians, 32. 
'■^Omnibus A'/7/," The, 501. 
Oneiila Indians, 23. Favor the Americans, in the 

Kevolution. 26. Their missionary, the Rev. Samuel 

Kirkland, 2.5. Hi-a-wat-ha's address to the. 24. 
Onis, Don. His Treaty with the United States, 1819, 451. 
Onondaga Indians. Hi-a-wat-ha"s address to the, 24. 
Onondaga County. Clarke's History of, cited, 23. 
Ontario, Lake: see Lake Ontario. 
Oi'ECHANCANOuGii, brother of Powhatan, 66. Captures 

Captain John Smith. 106. Hostile to the Virginia 

Colony, 108. 
Orders in Council. Explained, 400. The Order of 

1807, 402. 
Oregon Indians, 33. 

Oregon Territoru, 33. British claims to, 479. 
Orphan House. Whitfield's, 171, 172. 
Osage Indians, 32. 
OsPEOLA. Princip.ilChief of the Seminoles,46G. Death 

of, 468. Portrait, 466. 



Osiend. Conference at, respecting Cuba, in 1854, 522. 

Oswald, Eichard. English Commissioner on the 
Treaty of Peace, in 1782, 348. 

Oswego. Map of the forts at, 192. Battle at, in 1814, 
432, 433. 

Otis, James, 207, 208, 212, 213, 219. Author of the Me- 
morials to Parliament, in 1765, 552. Member of the 
Stamp Act Congress, 556. Portrait of, 207. Notice 
of, 212. 

Otoe Indians, 82. 

Ottau-a Indians. Their territory, 17. Attempt to ex- 
terminate the white people, in 1763, IS, 205. Aid the 
French against the Sacs and Foxes, IS. Their war 
with the Five Nations, 18. Conquered by the Five 
Nations, 25. 

Ottawa River, 17. 

Outagamie Indians: sec Fox Indians. 

Oyster Point, South Carolina, 99, 166. 

Oyster River. Incursion of French and Indians at, 
134. 

Paca. WiLLrAM. Member of the first Continental Con- 
gress, 588. Signer of the Declaration of Independ- 
ence, 602. 

Packenham, General. At New Orleans, 1814, 439. 
Death of, 440. 

Page, Captain, 4S2. 

Paine, Kobert Treat. Member of the first Conti- 
nental Congress, 1774, 588. Signer of the Declaration 
of Independence, 602. 

Paine, Tiio.mas. His " Common Sense," 250. 

Palestrkllo. Columbus marries the daughter of, 37. 

Palisaded Buildings. Picture of, 127. 

Palo Alto. Battle of, 482. 

Palos. Columbus sails from, 84, 89, 40. 

Pamunkey Indians, 111. 

Panama. Commissioners at, in 1826, 457. Railway, 
524. 

Panuco River. The followers of De Soto at the, 45. 

Paper Blockades, 444. 

Paper Money. Issued by Massachusetts, 122, 132. 

Pahineau, Louis Joseph, 472. 

Pareoe.s, General. Succeeds Hcrrera. 481. 

Paris. Treaty of Peace at, in 1763, 204; in 178-3, 343. 
The allied armies enter, 1814, 431. 

Parker, Sir Peter, 248, 261. 

Parker, Willia.m, 63. 

Parliament. Its Act of Supremacy, 75. Its appropri- 
ation to Georgia, 100. Gr.ants by, during the Seven 
Years' War in America, 206. 

Partridge, Oliver. Member of the Stamp Act Con- 
gress, 556. 

Pasquas de Flores, 42. 

Passamaquodd y Itidians, 22. 

Patersox, WILLIA.M, 356, 359. Signer of the Constitu- 
tion, 629. 

Patroons. Account of the, 139. 

Paulding, John, 326. Medal to, 326. 

Pauhis's Hook, 94. 

Pauw, Michael, 94, 1-39. 

Paronia. Territory of, 94. 

Pawnee Indians, -33. 

Pawiucket Indians, 11. 

Pawtucket River, 89, 90. 

Payne, General, 416. 

'■• Peace- Maker.s'^ in Pennsylvania, 162. 

Peace-Party, of 1812, 410. 

" Peacock,'' brig, 429, 440. Captures the brig " Fper- 
vier," 440. 

Pearce, Colonel. At York, Canada, 425. 

Pearl River, 29. 

Peers of England. Cannot be arrested for debt, 150. 

'• Pelican," sloop of war, 430. 

Peltries. Trade in, 72. 

Pemaquid Point, 80, 131. Capture of the garrison at, 
130, 134. 

Pendleton, Edmund. Member of the first Continental 
Congress, 5S8. 

Pendleton, Nathaniel, 856. 

" Penguin,'" brig, 440. 

Penn, John. Signer of the Declaration of Independ- 
ence, 602; and of the Articles of Confederation, 611. 

Penn, William, Admiral, 95. 

Penn, William. His Charter from Charles II. ; pur- 
chases part of New Jersey, 95. His voyage to Amer- 
ica, in 1682; his government, 96. His advice to the 
Duke of York, respecting an assembly of Representa- 
tives, 147. His purchases of p.arts of iSlew Jersey, 160. 
His arrival in Pennsylvania; his treaty with the Del- 
aware Indians, 161. His Charter of Liberties ; his 



INDEX. 



663 



return to England, 1654, 162. Deprived of his provis- 
ional government, in 1692; his rights restored, in 
1G94; returns to England, in 1701, WS. Philadelphia 
founded by, 162. Suggests a union of the Colonies, 
183. Involved in debt, in settling and improving 
Pennsylvania, 209. His sons, Thomas, John, and 
Richard, 163. Portrait, autograph, and notice of, 95. 

Penn's House. Picture of, 162. 

Penu Society of Philadelphia, 161. 

Pentutfooh Indians, 22. 

Penn'nj/vanid. Origin of the name, 96. Swedes in, 62. 
History of the Colony of, 161. Commencement of the 
State debt of, 163. Mutiny of the troops of, in 17S1, 
828. 

Penobscot Indians, 22. 

Penobscot Bay. Henry Hudson at, 59. 

Penobscot liiver, 22. 

Pensacola, Florida. Stormed, -138. Captured, in 181S, 
461. 

Peoria Indians, 19. 

Pepperf.ll, William, 137. 

Pequvd Inilians. Their territory, 21. Smitten by the 
Narragansets, 21. Jealous of the white people, 86, 
87. 

Pekoy, Earl. Anecdotes of, 233. 

Percy, George. Brother of Earl Percy ; Acting Gov- 
ernor of Virginia, 68, 69. 

Perote, The Castle of, 490. 

Perry, Oliver H., Commodore. His exploits, 42-3, 430. 
His expedition against pirates, in 1819, 453. Portrait, 
autograph, and notice of, 423. 

Perry, AL C, Commodore. Captures Tampico, Ta- 
basco and Tuspan, 1S47, 485. At Japan, 512. 

Perth, Earl of, 160. 

Perth Amboy, New Jersey. Origin of the name, 160. 

Peru. Discovery of, by Pizarro. 1524, 44. 

Peters, Hugh, 86, 119. E.xecuted, 119. 

Peters, Richard. Secretary of the Board of War, 
1776, 294. 

Petition to the King. In 1765, 550-552; written by 
Robert R. Livingston, 550. In 1774,578-582; drawn 
up by John Adams, and corrected by John Dickin- 
son, 578. 

Petrels. Seen by Columbus and his crew, 39. 

Philadelphia. Founded, 162. Picture of the State 
House at, 250. Meeting of Congress at, 583. 

'■'■Philadelphia,'^ The. One of Commodore Preble's 
vessels captured by Tripolitans, 1803, 391. Decatur's 
exploit in firing the, 392. 

Philadelphia College., 178. 

Philip of Anjou, 134. 

Philip IL, of^ Spain. His measures .against the French 
Protestants in America, 50. 

Philip, King: see King Philip. Portrait and notice 
of, 124. 

Phillips, GeneraL Joins Arnold, in 1781 ; death of, 
330. 

Phillipse, Mart, Miss, 259. 

Phipps, Sir William. His Expedition against the 
French, 131. At Quebec, 131. Sent to England, 132. 

"■Phmbe;' frigate, 431. 

Phoenicians^ T:\ie. Origin of Indian tribes, referred to, 
11. 

Piank-eshaiD Indiana, IT, 19. 

PisratainiM. Letters from the King's commissioner at, 
118. 

Pickens, General, 295, 314, 315, 319. At Ninety-six, in 
1781, 336. Notice of, 337. Portrait of, 336. 

Pickering, John. Member of the Convention, 1TS7, 
on the Articles of Confederation, 3.56. 

Pickering, Timothy. Secretary of State, 384. 

Picture Writing, Indian, 13. 

Pierce, Franklin. Brigadier-General, in 1847, 514. 
In the army in Mexico, under General Scott, 493. 
President of the United States, in 1*52, 513. Pre- 
sides at the opening of the World's Fair, 1853, 517. 
Portrait, autograph, and notice of, 514. 

Pierce, William. Delegate from Georgia to the Con- 
vention on the Articles of Confederation, 1787, 356. 

PiGOT, General, 2s9, 335. 

Pigmie.i. In America, stories of, 12. 

Pike, Zebulon M. Portrait and notice of, 425. 

'' Pilgrims," The. Voy.ice of, to America, in 1620, (7. 
78. Landing of the, 7S. Names of; fabulous story 
of, 78. Salutation ot; bv Samoset. 114. 

PiNCKNEY, Charles. <)f Soutli Carolina, Member of 
the Convention on the Articles of Confederation, 
1787, 356. Signer of the Constitution. 629. 

PiNCKNEY, Charles Cotesworth. Of South Carolina, 
Member of the Convention on the Articles of Confed- 



eration, 17S7, 356. Signer of the Constitution. 629. 

Envoy to France, 1797. .38.5. Candidut*: for the Pre.s- 

idency, S^% 396, 404. Portrait and autograph of 384. 

Notice of, 3s5. 
Pine-street. Philadelphia. Origin of the name, 162. 
Pine-tree Money, ITi. 
PiNKNEY, William. His treaty with Gnat Britain. 

1806; portrait, autograph, and notice ot 400, 4t)l. 
Pinnace, A. Described, 66. 
Pipe of Peace, Indian, 14. 
Pipe-clay. Indian calumets made of, 14. 
Piracy. The Earl of Belhunonfs etforts to supiircss, 

149. In the West Indies, 149. 
PiTCAiRN, Major, 232. 
Pitt, William, 195. His views of taxation, 217, 644. 

His scheme for conquering Canada, 199. Kesipim bis 

office as Prime Minister, 213. Portrait and notice ot, 

217. See CuATiiA-M. 
Pitt, William, the younger, 367. 
Pizarro. Death of; notice of, 44. 
Plains of Ahrah(rm, 2()1, 2o2, 241. 
Plantta'rium, Rittenhousc's, 210, 269. 
Plato. His suggestions respecting Atlantis, 87. 
Platte River, 31. 

Plattsburg Bay. Naval action at, in 1814, 4.36. 
Plymouth Colony. Its Government, 110. Joins the 

Confederacy of Colonies, in 164-3, 121. 
Plymouth Company, 63, 64. Explore North Virginia, 

1606, 73. Employ Captain John Smith, 1614 and 

1615; new charter of the, 1620; superseded bv the 

Council of Plymouth, 74. Consent to the e.-itnldish- 

ment of a Puritan Colony in North Virginia, 77. 
Plymouth, Council of, 74. 
Plymouth Uock. 79. 
Pocahontas. The story of, 66. Guardian anirel of the 

Virginia colony, 69. Captured by <"n[)tjiin Arirall ; 

baptized; marries John Rolfe, 70." John Randolph, 

descended from, 404. Portrait of, 66. 
Poinsett, Joel R. Secretary of War, 1S36, 470. 
" Poictiers," ship, 415. 
Point Comfort. 64. 
Point Isabel. 4sl. 
I'oiiit I'liosant. The Shawnee Indians subdued at, in 

1774, 19. 
Pokonet Indians, 22. 
PoLK, James K. President of the United States, 1845, 

47S. Proclaims Peace with Mexico, 497. Portrait, 

autograph, and notice of, 478, 479. 
Polo. Marco, 38. 

Polygamy. Indian, 15. Mormon, 6(>4. 
1\).MER0Y, Seth, General, 198, 2:J8. 
Pompton. New Jersey troops at, 328, 329. 
Ponce de Leon, Juan. Discovers Florida ; at the Tor- 

tugas; returns to Porto Rico, 42. Returns to the 

West Indies; mortjillv wounded. *?. 
Pontiac. Ottawa Chief, 18, 2H 205. His grave, 18. 

20.5. 
Pope, The. His Apo.stolic Vicar in the United States. 

1786, 35.3. Bulls o^ 46. Sanctions the Slave-trade. 

533. JuLirs III., Pope, 75. 
PoPHAM. George. Member of the Plymouth Corn- 
pan}', 63. 
PopiiAM, Sir John. At Kennebec, in 16o7, 73. Death 

of, 74. 
Popular Rights in Virginia, 112, 11.3. 
Population. Of the American colonics 1(9. Increa.se 

of, in the United States 447, 448. Of Indian tribes, 

in 1650 ; and in ls53, 31, 32. 
" Porcupine," schooner, 420. 
PoREY. SecretarvofVirginia, inl622, 97. 
Porter, David, Comnuxlore, 430. His Expodition 

against pirates, 4,5.3. Notice of, 431. 
Porto Rico. Exploring voyages to, 41. I once de 

Leon, Governor of; his return to, in 1512, 42. 
Portraits. 

A UERCROMBIT- General, 191 
Adams, John, S<S, 5S9. 

Adams. John Qiincy, 455. 
Adams. Samueu 221. 
Ames, Fisher, 3>0. 
Amhepjst, Lord. 196. 
Arnold, Benedict. 325. 
Bainbridge, Commodore, 391. 
Balboa, 42. 
Black Hawk, 18. 
BooNR. Daniel, 299. 
BitADDocK, General, 1?6. 
Brant, Joseph, 27>t. 
Brown, Jacob, General, 432. 
BccuANAN, James, 532. 



664 



INDEX. 



BuEGOTNE, General, i?TS. 

B0RK, Aaron, 397. 

Cabot, Sebastian, 46. 

Calhoun, John C, 458. 

Carroll, Archbishop, 354. 

Carroll, Charles, 601. 

Cecil, Lord Baltimore, 81. 

Church, Benjamin, 128. 

Claiborne, Governor, 440. 

Clarke, George K., General, SOOL 

Clay, Henry, 500. 

Clinton, George, Governor, 350. 

Clinton, I)e Witt, 466. 

Clinton, General, 287. 

COLDEN, Cadwallader, 21C. 

Columbus, Christopher, 36i. 

CoRNWALLis, Lord, 318. 

Cose, Tench, 369. 

Croghan, Major, 420. 

Deane, Silas, 266. 

Dearborn, General, 410. 

Decatur, Lieutenant, 393. 

De Kalb, Baron, 316. 

De Soto, 44. 

Dickinson, John, 210. 
Ellsworth, Olivek, 360. 

EsTAiNG, Count d', 2S9. 

Fillmore, Millard, 502. 

Franklin, Benjamin, 267, 589. 

Fremont, John C, 488. 

Fulton, Robert, 398v 

Gates, General, 314. 

Grasse, Count de, 340. 

Greene, Nathaniel, General, 331. 

Hamilton, Ale.^ani>er, 361. 

Hancock, John, 231. 

Harrison, William H., 474. 

Hayne, Robert Y., 463. 

Henry, Patrick, 214. 

Hopkins, Admiral, 308. 

HoPKiNSON, Francis, 284. 

Howe, Lord, 197. 

HuneoN, Henry, 50. 

Ingraham, Captain, 518. 

Isabella, Queen, 38. 

Jackson, Andrew, 460. 

Jackson, James, 347. 

Jay, John, 379. 

Jefferson, Thomas, 389, 589. 

Johnson, Sib William, 190. 

Jones, Paul, 307. 

Kane, Dr., 510. 

King Philip, 124. 

King, Rufus, 395. 

KiRKLAND, Samuel, Kev., 25. 

Knox, General, 370. 

KosciuszKO, 277. 

La Fayette, General, 273. 

Lawrences, Captain, 429. 

Lee, Charles, General, 243k 

Lee, Henry, Colonel, 333. 

Lincoln, General, 294. 

Livingston, Edwarr. 452. 

Livingston, Robert It., 366, 589. 

Macdonough, Commodore, 435i. 

Madison, James, 405. 

Marion, Francis, 317. 

Marshall, John, 351. 

Mather, Cotton, 133. 

Mifflin, General, 352. 

Monroe, James, 447. 

Montgomery, General, 242. 

Morgan, General, 331. 

Morris, Gouverneur, 364. 

Morris, Robert, 264. 

Morse, Professor, 507. 

MoTTE, Rebecca, .335. 

Moultrie, General, 249. 

North, Lord, 224. 

Oglethorpe, James Edward, 104. 

Osceola, 466. 

Otis, James, 207. 

Pbnn, William, 95. 

Perry-, Cominodore, 423. 

Pickens, General, 336. 

Pierce, Franklin, 514. 

Pike, General, 425. 

Pinckney, C. C, 334. 

Pinkney, William, 400. 

Pitt, William, 217. 



Pocahontas, 66. 

Polk, James K., 479. 

Porter, Commodore, 431. 

Pulaski, Count, 305. 

Putnam, General, 253. 

Putna.m, Rufus, 362. 

Raleigh, Sir Walter, 55. 

Ramsay, David, 312. 

Randolph, John, 403. 

Red Jacket, 9. 

Rittenhouse, David, 211. 

RocHAMBEAU, Count de, 339. 

Rush, Benjamin, 251. 

RuTLEDGE, Governor, 310. 

St. Claik, General, 276. 

Schuyler, Philip, General, 239. 

ScoTT, WiNFiELD, General, 485. 

Shelby, Isaac, 417. 

Sherman, Roger, 589. 

S.MiTH, John, Captain, 61. 

Smith, Joseph, .504. 

Steuben, Baron, 291. 

Story, Joseph, 612. 

Stuyvesant, Peter, 142. 

Sullivan, General, 304. 

Sumter, General, 315. 

Tarleton, Colonel, 316. 

Taylor, Zachary', 498. 

Thompson, Benjamin, .346. 

Thomson, Charles, 227. 

Tru.mbull, Jon.^tiian, 323. 

Tyler, John, 476. 

Van Buren, Martin, 470. 

Van Rensselaer, Solomon, 413. 

Verazzani, 47. 

Vespucci, Amerigo, 34. 

Warren, Joseph, 237. 

Washington, George, 365. 

Washington, Martha, 387. 

Washington, Colonel, 332. 

Wayne, General, 298. 

Webster, Daniel, 503. 

West, Benjamin, 210. 

Whipple, Abraham, 310. 

Williams, Roger, 90. 

Winthrop, John, 117. 

Wolfe, General, 201. 
Port Royal, Nova Scotia. Founded, .58. Seized by 

Phipps, 131. Expeditions against, 135, 136. 
Port Royal. South Carolina. Oglethorpe at, in 1732, 

100. Lord Cardon settles at; claimed by the Span- 
iards, 166. 
Portfsmouth, New Hampshire. Founded, SO. 
Portugal. Emulates the Italian cities, in trade, 36. 

Claims of, again,st the United States, 468. 
Portuguese. Settle in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, 

47. 
Post Office of the United States, 373, 507. 
Potomac River, 17. 
Potter, Colonel. Death of. 269. 
Pottery, Ancient glazed. Found in Ohio, 11. 
Pottowatoinie Imlians, 17, 18. Conspire against the 

English, in 1763, 205. 
Potts, Isaac. Discovers General Washington in a re- 
tired place, at prayer, 2S5. 
PouTRiNcouRT, M. At Port Eoyal, Nova Scotia, .58. 
Powhattan. Emperor of the "Powhatan Indians; his 

name and character, 05. Ilis history, 20. His eldest 

brother, 66. His daugliter, Pocahontas, 20, 66. His 

hostility; his friendslii[i, 7fl. Death of, 106. 
Powhatan ItuUans, 17, '.'(», 107, 108. 
Powhatan River. The name of the, changed to James 

River, 64. 
Prayer. At the Continental Congress, 1774, 228. At 

the Convention on the Articlesof Confederation, 1787, 

359. Macdonough's, 435. 
Preble, Jedediaii, General. 230. 

Preble, Commodore. In the Mediterranean, 180-3, 301. 
Prescott, General (British). Captured ; exchanged for 

General Charles Lee, 261, 271. 
Prescott, William, Colonel, 2.34, 235, 236. Notice of, 

2.34. 
Premdent of the United States. His approval and 

Veto powers, 616. How elected, 621, 6.31, 632. Quali- 
fications, salary, duties, etc., of the, 622, 623. Electors 

of, 621, 622. 
Presidentu of the Vnited States. 

Washington, GkoRgb, 1789, 364 

Adams, John, 1797, -38.3. 

Jefferson, Thomas, 1801, 388. 



INDEX. 



m5 



Madison, James, 1809, 404. 

Monroe, James, 1817, 446. 

Adams, John Quinoy, TS'i5, 454. 

Jackson, Andkew, IS'i'J, 4.59. 

Van Buren, Martin, 1887, 469. 

Harrison, William Henry, 1841, 473. 

Tyler, John, 1S41, 475. 

Polk, James Knox, ls4o, 478. 

Taylor, Zaciiary, 1849, 493. 

Fillmore, Millard, 1S50, 501. 

Pierce, Franllin, 18.5:^, 514. 

Buchanan, James, ls57, 632. 
"Preaident" iVi^'.ito. Iii7, 414, 440. 
Press. Freedom ut' the, restrained by Andres, ISO. 
Preston, Captain, 221, 222. 
Preston, William B. Secretary of the Navy, 1849. 

499. 
Prevost, Augustine, General. In East Florida, in 

1779, 294. At Brier Creek, 295. Prepares to invade 

South Carolina, 296. 
Prevost, Sir George, General. Succeeds General 

Brock, 416. At Sacketfs Harbor, in 1813, 426. At 

Plattsburg, in 1814, 4:^4. 
Prevost, J. C. Commander of the steamship " Viraao'' 

524. 
Price, Governor. Gives names to the two sons of Mas- 

sasoit, 124. 
Price, Colonel. In New Mexico, 1847, 489. 
Price, Captain. At St. Augustine, in 174(1, 172. 
Prideaux, General, 199, 200. 
Prince of Orange, The. Friendly to America, in 1776, 

266. 
Princeton, Now Jersey. Captured by Cornw-allis, 260. 

Battle of, 269. Congress at, 588. 
"Princeton,'' steamer, 475, 512. 
Pring, Martin. His Expedition to America, 58, 73. 
Printing. Effect produced by the art of. 62. Forbid- 
den in New York, by James II., 147. In the Amer- 
ican colonies, prohibited by William III., 153. 
Printing Press. Not one," in Virginia, in 1677, 112; 

nor in 1683, 114. The first established in Virginia, in 

1729, 114. 
Prison -S/t ip. Jersey, 259. 
Privateering, 149. " Account of, 246. Privateers fitted 

out by Robert Morris, 308 ; and by M. Genet, 377. 
Private Judytnent. Doctrine of, at Plvniouth, 116. 
Proctor, General, 416. At Fort Meiirs, 418, 419. Routed, 

in 1813, 424. 
"Prophet;' The. Twin brother of Tecumseh. 403. 
Protestant. Origin of the word, 6'2. Reformation, 62. 

Feeling, aroused in England, by the cruelties of Me- 

lendez, 52. French Protestants in Carolina, 55. Prot- 
estantism in England, in 1574, 75. 
Providence Plantation, 91. 
Providence, Rhode Island. Founded, 90. Burned, 

127. 
Prussia. The King of, enters Paris, 1814, 4:31. 
Public Lands of the United States. 372. 
Puebla, The City of. Captured by General Scott, 1847, 

490. 
Pulaski, Count, 274. Portrait, and notice of, 305. 
Puncah Indians, 32. 
Puritans. Condition of the New England Indians, on 

the arrival of the, in America, in lOiU, 22. Character 

of the English. 75, 76 : their principles, 76. Picture 

of one of the, 75. Friendly intercourse of the, with 

the Dutch, 85. Of Massachusetts colony, 118. Settle 

in New Nctherland, 143. 
Putnam, Israel, General, 194, 234, 23,'j, 2.33. In the 

French and Indian War, 198. Enters Boston. 1776, 

247. On Long Island, 253. At the house of Roger 

Morris, 259. His exploit at Greenwich, 297. Portrait 

and notice of, 253. 
Putnam, Rufus, General. Portrait, autograph, and 

notice of, 36.3. 
Pyle, Colonel. Defeated by Colonel Henry Lee, 1781, 

333. 

Quaboag. Englishmen .slain at, 126. 

Quadrant, Tlie. Invented by Godfrev. 209. 

Quakers. Origin of the name, 94. Their tenets, 123. 
In Pennsylvania. 94. In .Massachusetts Bay, 122. In 
North Carolina, 168, 231. In New Jersey, 160. Com- 
pelled to pay fines, 110. Persecuted, 94, 122, 123. 

Quaker I/ill. Battle of, 290. 

Quebec. Algonquins at, 17. Founders of, 74. Military 
operation.s at, in 17)59, 2I11. Surrender of, to General 
Murray, 203. Map of, 242. 

" Quebec Act," The, 225. 

Queen Anne, of England, 134. Queen Anne's War, 135. 



Queen's College. 173. 

Queen's Creek, 60. 

Queenstown. Battle of, 413. 414 

QuiN. ;v, Josiaii. Defeats Captain Preston, 222. 

Quintjnac Creek, tiH. 

Quitman, General, 4S}, 494. Notice of, 494 

Quon-eh-ta-cut, or Connecticut, b5. 

Rabida. The Monastery of, .38 
Paihcay. To the Pacific, 516, 513, 520 hH 
liai-xin River, 417. ' - • 

Raleigh, Sir Walter. Studies the art of war, under 
L^oligny, .)2. Introduces tobacco into England, 70 
Historical error respecting. 100. Picture of Lis ships : 
portrait and notice of, .55, 56. 
Raleigh Tavern, The, 226. 
Rall, Colonel. With liis Hessians at Trenton 262 

•oJ'?'V^V ^'^^■'''- ^""'■'''t. autograph, and nntice of. 
tiVz, bit. 

Randolph, Edward. Custom-house officer 1679 120 
Randolph, Edmund, .356, 359. Attorney-Gencriil of 

the United States, 369. 
R.\NDOLPH, JoiKN. Portrait, autograph, and notice of, 

40.3, 404. 
Randolph, Peyton, 228, 583. 

Rank. Of American Naval and Military commanders. 

303. "^ 

Rapelje, Sakaii. The first white child born in New 

Netherland ; her descendants, 7-3. 
Rdpj/ahannock River. Explored by Captain John 

Smith, 67. 
Raritan Indians, 140. 

R.vtcliffe. President of the Plymouth Colony. 6.5. 
Rawdon, Lord. On the Santee River, 17Mi;'at San- 
ders's Creek, 315. At Hobkirk's Hill, 1781, 334. Em- 
b.arks for England, 337. 
Red Jacket, Seneea Chief, 1426. His eloquent remark 

respecting his children, 26. Portrait of, 9. 
Red Cross of St. George, 144. 

Red Rirer. Do Soto's followers wander among tribu- 
tary streams of the. 45. 
Ri:ei>, George, 356, 588, 602, 629. 
Reed. Joseph, General, 611. Attempt to bribe. 2S6. 
Reeder, Andrew H. Governor of Kan.sis; delegnto 

in Congress, 18.5.5, 529. 
Reformation, The Protestant, 62. Effects of, in France. 

49. 
" Rf/iil(itor.t," The. 22.3. 
R,'hr,hoth. Rhode Island. Founded, 89. 
Rejiiddican Gorernment. Guarantied by the Consti- 
tution of the United States. 629. 
Republican I'art)/. The. 877, .5;{1. 
Republican ism in Maryland, 1.52. 
Repreientativi'x in <'ongrr.-^--<. 860. 
Re-taca de la Palnta. Battle of. 482. 
"■Retaliation." schooner. Ctiptured. 355. 
Revenue of the United States, 383. 
Revere, Paul, 232. 

Revolution, American. History of the, 207 ss. The 
Shawnces aid the British, in the, 19. The Lcnni- 
Lenapes join the British, 21. Officers and soldiers of 
the, provided for. 453. 
Revolution. English, of 1688, 162. 

Revnal, Abbe. His remarks on the Signers of the Dec- 
laration of Independence, 6ii3. 
Rhett, Col(mel, 169. 

Rhode Island. Explored by Scandinavian.s 85. Orisrin 
of, 89, 91. Founded, 62, 119. Origin of tlie name. 91. 
Seal of. 91 ; Colonv of, proposes to join the Confeder- 
acy of Colonies, in 16443, 121. History of, 157. Char- 
ter of, 166-3. 158. Refii.>;esto be included in Conneclicut 
Colon}', 155. Religious toleration in, 151. Persecu- 
tion of Roman Catholics and Quakers in, 1.5s. Sir 
Peter Parker at, 261. Evacuated by the B^iti^h, in 
1779. .306. Joins the Union, 1790, 87'l. Suite Consti- 
tution of, 1.57, 447. 
Rhode Island CoUege. 178. 
Rhodes, Samuel. Member of the first Continental 

Congress, 1774, 588. 
RiALL, General. At Chippewa, 1814, 4.3.3. 
Ribault, John. Sails with Huguenots for America, in 

1562, 50. Kate of him and his party. 5o. 51. 
Rice. Origin of the culture of, in South Carolina, 167. 
Richelieu Rirer, 59. 
RiEDtsEL, Baron. With Burgoyne. 2'*1. 
Riley, General. Governor of Californi.i, 49'.i. 
Ring. Presented, by Winlhrop. to Charles II., 155. 
Ringgold. Tuo.mas. Member of the Stiimp Act Con- 
gress, 556. 
Ringgold, M.ajor, 482. 



666 



INDEX. 



ErN-GGOiD, Captain. His Expedition, 1853, 415. 

Hio de la Plata. Discovered by Cabot, 47. 

Hio del Norte. Coronada's Expedition to the head 

waters of the, 45. 
Jiio Grande, 480, 481. Boundary of the Aztec Empire, 

10. 
EiPLEY, General. At Fort Eric, in 1S14, 433. 
EisiNGii, Governor, 14.3. 
KiTTENUouSE, David, 210. Portrait and autograph of, 

211. 
EivAS, General, 52.5, 520. 
Jiiver lii(li,nis. 140, 141. 
EoANOKK, Lord (if, 56. 
Roanoke Lsland, 55, 64. 

EoBB, William. At the battle of King's Mountain, 319. 
EoBERDEAU, Daniel. Signer of the Articles of Confed- 
eration, 611. 

Kobertval, Lord. Ilis Expedition to New France ; 
arrives at Newfoundland ; his second Expedition, 
1549, 49. 

Robinson, John, Eev. At Leyden, 77. His remark 
respecting; Standish's slaughter of Indians, 115, 116. 
His family join the Plymouth colonists, 116. 

EocHAMBEAU, Count de." Arrives at Newport, 1780,321. 
His first interview with Washington, .323. At Dobbs's 
Ferry, 339. At Yorktown, in 17S1, 341. Portrait and 
notice of, 339. 

Eoche, Marquis de la, 57. 

EoCHESTER, William B. At Panama, 1S26, 457. 

Rockets. Used in war, described, 437. 

Eockingham, Marquis of, 217. 

KoDNEY, Cesar. Member of the Stamp Act Congress, 
656 ; and of the first Continental Congress, 5SS. His 
notes respecting the authors of the State Papers, in 
1774; 572. Signer of the Declaration of Independence, 
602. Attorney-General of the United States, 406. 

EoLFE, John. Marries Pocahontas, 70. 

EoGEKS, John, the Martyr, 76. 

EoGERS, Commodore, 407. 

EoGERS, Major, 194. His. expedition against the St, 
Francis Indians, 200. 

Roman Catholics. Auricular confession of, 33. Punish 
witchcraft, 13'3. In England, in the time of Henry 
VIII., 75 ; and of Mary, 76. Found a colony in Marv- 
land, 62, 81, 151, 152. Persecuted by Puritans, 119; 
and in Maryland, New York, and New England, 131, 
132, 154. Provincial offices in New York filled by, 
147. The prevalence of their faith in Lower Canada, 
203. Parliamentary concessions to, 225. 

EoQUE, Fr.\nois de la: see Eobertval. 

EosE, Mr. British Envoy to the United States, 1807, 
402. 

Boss, George. Member of the first Continental Con- 
gress, 1774, 538. Signer of the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, 602. 

Eoss, General. At Benedict, Washington city, and 
Baltimore, 436. Death of, 437. 

EoswELL, Sir Henry, 117. 

EonviLLE, Major, 135. 

EowLAND, David. Member of the Stamp Act Con- 
gress, 556. 

Rorbury, M.issachusetts. Founded, 118. 

Royid Standard of England, 144. 

EuGGLEs, Timothy, 190, 215. President of the Stamp 
Act Congress, 556. 

Rmrt. Indians supplied with, by the Dutch, 140. 

El'su, Benjamin, Dr. Signer of the Declaration of In- 
dependence, 602. His letter to General Wayne, 298. 
Portrait, autograph, and notice of, 250, 261. 

Eusu, KiciiAUD. Secretary of the Treasury, 1825,454. 

EussEL, JouN. United States Commissioner at Ghent, 
1814, 443. 

EussELL, John, Lord. His answer to Mr. Everett's let- 
ter respecting Cuba, 513. 

Russia. England's first maritime connection with, 47. 
Vassalage in, 63. The Emperor of, enters Paris, 1S14, 
431. Treaty of the United States with, 469. Aids 
Austria against Hungary, 1S4S, 518. 

Russian Trading Coinpany, 47. 

EuTiiERFORD, General, 295. 

RiTTLEDGE, Edward. Member of the first Continental 
Congress, 1774, .588. Signer of the Declaration of In- 
dependence, 602. Member of the Convention on the 
Articles of Confederation, 604. On the Committee to 
confer with Lord Howe, 257. 

EuTLKDGE, John. Member of the Stamp Act Congress, 
556 ; and of the Convention on the Articles of Confed- 
eration, 356, 359. Signer of the Constitution of the 
United States, 629. Defends Charleston, 310. His 
proceedings after the capture of Lord Cornwallis, 



1781, 345. Judge of the Supreme Court of the United 
States, 369. Portrait and notice of, 310. 
Ryswick. The treaty at, 184. 

Sahle Island. 57. 

Sac/ifms^ Indian. Civil heads of tribes, 14, 16. 
iSark-ett's Harbor. Commodore Chauncey at, 181.3, 425. 
Sacrijices, Indian, 16. 

iSacs and Foa'es. Indians. 17. Discover}' of the; at- 
tack the French at Detroit; sell their lands to the 
United States, 18. 
Sagadahock River, 58, 73. 
Sagoyewatha: see Ked Jacket. 
/Sayuenay River. 58. 

St. Augustine, Florida. Ponce de Leon lands near. 42. 
Ribault's Expedition arrives at, 1562, 50. Founded, 
51. Spanish military post at, 61. 

St. Augustine, Mexico. General Twiggs at, 493. 

St Clair, General, 275. His Exi)edition against the In- 
dians, 1791, 374. Portrait of, 276. 

St. Croix River. De Monts at the, 58. 

St. Domingo. Discovery of, by Columbus, 40. Explor- 
ing voyages to, 41. D'Ayllon dies at, 43. The body 
of Columbus removed to, 41. 

St. Francis Indians. Major Rogers's Expedition against 
the, 200. 

St. George Settlement, 73. 

St. Helen's Sound. D'Ayllon at, 42. 

St. Jolm's, Newfoundland. Gilbert at, in 1583, 52. 

St. John's River. Named b}' Ribault, " River of May," 
50. 

St. Joseph's Island, 480. 

St. Juan d' Clloa. Cortez lands at, 43. 

St. Lawrence River. Origin of the name, 4S. Indians 
on the, 32. 

St. Legeu, Colonel. In the Mohawk Valley, 27S. In- 
vests Fort Stanwi.x, 278. 

''St. Louis" sloop-of-war, 518. 

St. JIary's, Florid.a. Pirates and slave-dealers at, 448. 

St. Mary's, Maryland, 151. Founded ; legislative As- 
semblv convened at, 82. 

St. Paul, Minnesota, 503, 516. 

St. Pierre, M. de. Governor Dinwiddle's letter to, 
181, 182. 

St. Regis. General Wilkinson at, in 1813, 427. 

Salamanca. Council at, 34, 38. 

Salem. Massachusetts. Colony, 117. The Genera. As- 
sembly of Massachusetts meets at, 226, 227. Witch- 
craft at, 132, 133. 

Salem, New Jersej'. Origin of the name, 95. 

Salmon Palls village. Attacked by the French and 
Indians, 131. 

Saltillo. General Wool and Colonel Doniphan at, 4S1, 
488. 

Saltonstall, Sir Rich.ird, 117, 118. 

Samoset. Salutes the Pilgrim Fathers, 114. Teaches 
Standish how to cultivate Indian corn, 115. 

San Antonio, 4S3, 493. 

Sanders's Creel-. Battle at. 1780, 315. 

Sandusky Hirer. Tlie Attiouandirons flee to the, 28. 

Saitda-ich Islamls. I'loposcd annexation of the, to the 
United States. 18,53, 519. 

Sandy Hook, New Jersey, 252. 

Sandys, Sir Edward, 77, 105. 

San Gabriel. Battle at, 1847, 487. 

San Juan d' Ulloa, Castle of, 489. * 

San Luis I'otosi,4S5. 

San Salvador: see Gxianahama. 

Santa Anna, Antonio Lopez de, 477. Anecdote of 
him and General Tavlor, 485. 486. At Cerro Gordo, 
1847, 489. His escape, 490. Flees from Cherubusco, 
493. President, 1854, 515. Portrait and notice of, 515. 

Santa Fc. Road to, 20. General Kearney at, 486. 

Santarem, Viscount, 60. 

"■Saratoga" ship, 435. 

Sargeant, John. Commissioner at Panama, 1826, 457. 

Sargent, Winthrop, 863. 

Sasco Swamp, 88. 

Saskatchawan River, 516. 

Sassacus. Pequod Sachem, 21, 87, 88. 

Sassafras roots, 58. 

Sassamon, John, 124. 

Saunders, Admiral, 201. 

Savannah Indians, 30. 

Savannah, Georgia. Founded, 62. 101, 10.3. Siege of, 
1779, 3(15. Evacuated by the British, 1782, 348. 

Savannah River, 28. 

Say-and-Seal. Lord, 85. 

Saybrook. Connecticut. Settlement at. 86. Andres's 
Expedition to, 1676, 147. Colony at, 154. 



INDEX. 



607 



Bayle, William. His colony; death of, 9S. 

Hayke, Stephen. The Earl of Chatham's letter to, 

228. 
Scaljis. Indians trophies; scilpiiifr-knivcs, 14. 
Scandinavian. Vo vases, 34. Child, born at Khodo 

Island, 85. 
Schenectada, New York. Burned and desolated, 131, 

14S. 
Sciiaffer, Peter. Casts the first metal types, 62. 
Schoharie Valley. Devastation of, in 177s, 290. 
Schooi-ckaft, IIknrv R., 33. 

Schooh. E>lal>li>hiil in Massachusetts, in 1647, 121. 
Schuyler, rEiKi;, M;iyor of Albany, 149. 

Schuyler, Philii-, General. Conveys to Albany the 
remains of young Lord Howe, 197." At He aux'Noi.v 
240. At Fort Edward, 276. Superseded by Gates, 
277. Portrait, autograph, and notice of, 239, 240. 

'■'■Scorpion,"'' The. One of Commodore Perry's vessels, 
420. 

Scott, Winfield, General. Against the Indians on 
the Wabash, 374. At Fort Guorg., l^l:^, 426. Cap- 
tures Fort Erie, 1S14, 433. His missidii to remove 
the Cherokees, 1838, 462. His Expedition ag.ainst the 
Seiiiiiiiilfs, 4t;T. On the Canada frontier, 1S3S; in 
Maine, l'^■39, 47.'. Plan of his Mexioan cainpaiirn, 4S3. 
At Vera Cruz, 485, 489. At Cerro Odrdo, 489, 490. 
At Cherubusco, 1S47, 493. At Chepultepic, l'.i4. At 
Mexico, 494, 495. Nominated President (jf the United 
States, 1852, 513. Portrait and notice of, 4s">. 

ScuDDER, Nathaniel. Signer of the Articles of Con- 
federation, 611. 

Seaburv, Sa.miel. Bishop of Connecticut, 354 

Sea Kingn of tlie Xortli, m, .36. 

Seal. Of New Netlurland, 73. Of Plymouth Colony, 
117. Of Khude Island, 91, 158. 

Sears, Isaac, 232. 

Seaver, Ebenezer, of Massachusetts, 409. 

Sedgwick, Theodore. His address at the opening of 
the World's Fair, 18.53, 517. 

Sedition Laio of the United States, 3S6. 

Seei-onk- li'irer, 89, 90. 

Seminole Indians. Inveterate enemies of white men; 
subdued by General Jackson, 30. Deputations by, in 
1817, 44S ; "and in 1S3."), 466. Treaties of the, Hitli the 
United States, 1837 and l'-39, 468. 

Senators of the I'niled States. 614, 615. Their num- 
ber, classification, qualiflL-ations, presiding officer, etc, 
614. 

Seneea Indiana, 23, 110. Red Jacket, Chief of the, 14. 
At Genesee Flats, 304. Conspire against tlie English, 
205. Hi-a-wat-ha's address to the, 24. 

" Serapis,'' ship. Captured by Paul J<incs, 1779, 307. 

Settlement. The forming of a, described; era of settle- 
ments in North America, 61. 

Seven years' War in America, 179. Cost of the, 204, 
206. 

Sevier, John. At King's Mountain, 319. 

Shackamaxin, Pennsvlvania, 90. 

'■'Shades of Death," the, 291. 

Shaftesbury, Earl of, 9s, 99. His " Fundamental Con- 
stitution," 164. 

"Shannon,'''' frigate, 429. 

Sharpe, Governor, 1S4, 1S5. Ilis expectation, 1754, of 
a Stamp .\ct, 541. 

Shawmitt, M.assachusetts, 89, US. The site of Boston, 
visited by Standish, 115. 

Shatonee /ndiatis, 17. Their territory; history of the, 
19. Join the French, in tlie French"and Indian War; 
subdued by Bouquet. 1763, 19. Aid the British, during 
the Revolution; and during tlie second war of the 
United States, with Groat Britain, 19. Conspire 
against the English, in 1763, 205. Treaty with the, 
363. 

Shays, Daniel, .353. 

Sheaffe. Genor.il, 416. At York, Canad.i, 425. 

Sheep. Tlie tirst, that were taken to Virginia, 1609. 68. 
Use of the flesh of, why discour.aaed in America, 216. 

Shelby, Isaac, Governor. At King's Mountain, 319. 
Sanctions Hopkins's Expedition auainst the Indian; 



1416. 
1817, 



416. Declines the appointment of Secretary of War, 
817. 447. Portrait and autograph of; 417. Notices 
of, 417, 423. 

Shelby, Gloucester Countv, Virginia. 66. 

8UER.MAN, Ro<;er. On the Coiiimitt.e to draft the Dec- 
laration of Independence. 251. Member of the Con- 
vention on the Articles of Confederation, 17S7. S-ie. 
Member of the first Continental Contrress. 5S8. Signer 
of the Declaration of Indeiiendence, 602; of the Arti- 
cles of (Confederation, 6ii4. 611; and of the Constitu- 
tion, 629. Portrait of, 5S9. 



Shields, General. In Mexico, 1847, 49-3. Notice of, 
493. 

S/iields. Indian, 14. An ancient shield, found at Monte- 
video, 11. 

Ships. Raleigh's, 55. The class of, used by the early 
explorers of America; the ships of Frobishcr. 6<J. 
Picture of a Norman ship, !». 

Ship.canal. Across the Isthmus of Dnrien, 524. 

Snii'i-EN, Edward. General Arnold marries the 
daughter of, .324. 

Siiii'PEN, Captain. Death of, 269. 

Shirley, William, Governor, 1.S7, 184, IS,'*. Ilis Ex- 
pedition against Niasrara, ls.'>, ]-<9; and against Acadie, 
185. Succeeds Braddoek ; Governor of the Baliainas, 
191. Urges Parliauient to establish a Stamii Tax, 

SnuBRiCK, Commodore. With Colonel Kearney, at 

Monterey, 487. 
SuuTE, Go'vernor, 136. 
SibeHa, Eastern. Ledyard's observation respecting 

the inhabitants of. 11. 
Sieyes, The Abbe, 386. 

Signers. Of the Declaration of Independence, 6<12. 
Of the Articles of Confederation, 611. Of the Con- 
.stitution, 629. 
Sill: Culture of, in Georgia, ion. 
SiLLiMAN, General. At UldL'.-field, 270. 
Silrer. Bullet, containin<r Clinton's dispatch to Bur- 
goyne, 283. Coin.s, the first, in the I'nited Strifes, 
122. Cup, ancient, found at Marietta. Ohio, 11. Orn- 
aments, ancient, found in America. 11. Ancient bit 
of, found in Genesee countv, New York, 11. 
SiMCOK, Colonel. :i39. 

Sioux Indiana, 31, 32. Character of the ; first risitcd 
by the French, 1660, .32. Deadly enemies of the Pot- 
tawatomies, 18. Language of t"he, 12. Picture of, 9. 
See Eastern Sioux; and Southern Sioiir. 
Six Nations. Origin of the ; sure friemls of tlie En- 
glish, 25. Ilistitry of the, 26. The British Govern- 
ment .advises the colonies to secure the friendship of 
the, 1S3 Neutrality of the, 192. 193. Their treaties 
of friendship. 199, 36-3. Join Amherst, in 176l>. 20-3. 
Sullivan's I'.xpedition against the, 303. 304. Measures 
to conciliate the, 1764, 596. * 

Skelton, Rev. Mr., 117. 
Skene, Piiilii', 275. 
Si-enesborough, or Whitehall, 276. 
Sti/i dresses, Indian, 14. 

Slaves. The natives of .\mcriea used as, by Columbus, 
41. Indians ."^old as, 74. Sold to the Virginia plant- 
ers, by the Dutch, in 1620. I(t5. Coiiiinenceinent of 
negro slavery in South Carolina, 1671, 98. Labor by, 
general in Georgia, in 175<i, 174. In New J^ngland, 
and other colonies, 177. George IIl.'s relation to the 
trade in, .593 ; denounced by Jefferson, as piratical, 
593. Slave-ships from Africa to Savannah, 174. In 
the United States, 1791, 371. Debates on slavery, in 
Congress, 1818 and 1>19, 452. Charles Fenton -Mer- 
cer's~ Resolution, declaring the slave-trade to be pira- 
cy, 1817, 593. The Ashburton treaty. respectinL' tho 
slave-trade, 1842, 472. Excluded from California, 
1849, 499, 500. Discussion of slaverv. in Congress. 
499. .529, 5;il. The slave-trade in the District of Co- 
lumbia, abolishe<1.5ul. Origin an<l lii.story of slavery, 
in the United States. 53:3. 5:M. Slave population of 
the United State-s, 1S50, li'5. Every five, accounted 
three persons, 613. Fugitive Sl.avc Law, 5o7. In 
Kansiis and Nebr.iska, 52". .521. The case of tho two 
slaves of Colonel Wheeler. 526. The provision. In tho 
Constitution of the United StaU'S, for the-Bradual ex- 
tinction of slavery, 629. 
Slave lMk(. .3:}. 

Sloat, Commodore. Captures Monterey, 1S46, 4s7. 
SL()t'<;iiTER, Henry, Governor, 14.8. 
S.MIBERT, John, Artist. lutroiliices portrait-painting 

into America, 1.58. 
Smilik. John. Member of the Committee of Congress, 

on the War of 1812, 409. 
Smith. James, of Pennsylvania. Signer of the Declar- 
ation of Independence, 602. 
Smith, Joh.s, Captain. 6:3. His voyage to America, 
1607; ascends the James River; Pre.siilent of the 
Jamestown colony, 6.5. Ascends the Chiekahom- 
iny ; captured bv Indians: .saveil by I'ooahontas, 
66". Remonstr!ites'ai;3inst L'old-diL's:inL'; leaves James- 
town, in di.sgiist; explores the ('hesi|K'ake ; SJiils up 
the Potomac; explores the P.appahannock, and tho 
Susquehanna, 67. His travels ; n-tiirns to James- 
town, in UUW, 67. Encoiiraires asrieiilture, 67, 68. 
Plots against him, 67. Injured by the explosion of 



668 



IXDEX. 



a bag of Runpowder ; goes to England, for sui::ical 
aid, 68. Mis popularity with the Indians, 69. Em- 
ployed by the I'lynioutb Company, in 1614 and 1615; 
captured by a French pirate; his escape; Aduiirul, 
74. Offers his services to the Puritans, 77. The In- 
dian captiircr of, 106. His History of Virginia, 65. 
Portrait of, 61. Notice of, 65. 
Smith, Jonath.vn Bayabu. Signer of the Articles of 

Confederation, 611. 
Smith, Joseph. Founder of Mormonism ; portrait of, 

01)4. 
Smith, Persifer F., General. AtContreras, 1S47, 493. 
Smith, Iticii ard. Member of the first Continental Con- 
gress, 1774, 5SS. 
S.MiTH, Robert. Secretary of the Navy, 390. Secre- 
tary of State, 406. 
Smith, Samuel, General. At Fort Mifflin, 1777, 275. 
At Baltimore, 1S14; notice of, 436. 

Smith, Lieutenant-Colonel (British), 2.32. 

Si/iokiiiff Tobacco. Its general use among the Aborigi- 
nals of North America, 14. 

Smyrna. The affair of Koszta at, in 1653, 518. 

Smyth, Alexander, General, 414. 

Siuike Indiims. 33. 

Snake Device, The. Picture of, 226. 

Snorre. The child of Gudrida, 35. 

Snyder. A boy, killed at Boston, in 1770, 222. 

Somers, Sir George, OS. 

" Somers" The. One of Commodore Perry's vessels, 
420. 

Somerset, James. The case of, 5.33. 

Sonora. Colonel Fremont at, in 1846, 487. 

Sons of Liberty. Political associations, 215. Of Massa- 
chusetts, 2-33. Of New York, 248. 

Sorel Hiver, 59. 

SoTHEL, Seth, Governor, 165, 167. 

SoTO, Ferdinand de: see De Soto. 

Soul. Immortality of the, taught by Indians, 15. 

SouLE, Mr. At the Ostend Conference, in 1854, 522. 

Southampton, England. Puritans sail' from, in 1620, 77. 

Southard, Samuel L. Secretary of the Navy, 454. 

South Carolina. Catawbas in, 27. Colony, 168. Oc- 
cupied by the British, in 1780, 313. 

SouTHCOTE, Thomas, 117. 

Southern Indians. Picture of, .30. 

Southern Sioux Indians. Their country, and their 
hunting-grounds. 31. 

South River, or Delaware River, 94. 

South Sea. Origin of the name, 42. 

South Virginia, 63, 68. 

Spain. Cedes the Floridas to England, 204. At war 
with England, in 1779 ; secret treaty of, with France, 
in 1779, 306. Treaty oi; with the United States, 1795, 
381 ; and 1819, 451. 

Spaniards. Claim Port Royal, 166. Menace South Car- 
olina settlements, 167. Moore's Expedition against, 
169. Contests of, with Oglethorpe, 172. 

Spani'ih. Voyages and discoveries, 36-45. Armada: 
see Armada. 

Specie Payments. Suspended, In 1837, 471. 

"iSpeedwell," Puritan ship, 77, 11.5. 

Spencer, John C. Secretary of War, 475. 

Bpenoer, Joseph. General, 238, 289. 

Spirit-land. Indian, 15. 

Spirits, Two Great. Indian doctrine of, 15. 

Spraight, Richard Dobbs, .356, 534, 629. 

Spring. At Shawnuit, 118. Williams's, at Providence, 
Rhode Island, 90. 

Springfield Indians, 127. 

Springfield, Connecticut, 86, 127. 

Sj>rinijfield, New Jersey. Skirmish at, in 1780, 320, 
321. 

Spruce-street, Philadelphia. Origin of the name, 162. 

Squanto. Indian Chief, 74, 114. Kidnapped by Cap- 
tain Hunt, 74. 

Stamp Act, The. Becomes a law, 1765, 213. Fate of, 
in America, 215. Repealed, 217. History of, 541. 
Copy of, 541-548. Stamp distributors, 598. 

Stamp Act Congress. The. State Papers put forth by, 
in 1765, 549 ; Declaration of Rights, 549 ; Petition to 
the King, 550; Memorial to Parliament, 552. Mem- 
bers of, 556. 

Standish, Miles, Captain, 78, 115. 

Stark, John, General, 198, 2.34, 277. 

Star-Spangled Banner. The National Song, origin of 
the, 437. 

State Governments. Powers of, 620, 621. 

States. Of the United States, riglits of, defined, 627. 
New, how formed, 627. State Rights Docti-ine, 463, 
464. 



State Banks. The public funds distributed among the 
in 1836, 470. 

Stats House at Philadelphia. Picture of the, 250. 

Statuary. Colossal, of the Aztecs, 10. 

Statue. Of Alexander the Great, 60. 

Steamboat NarAgation, in the United States, .399. 

Steamshipj. Picture of a, 516. 

Stedman. His remark on Tarleton's want of humani- 
ty, 313. 

Stephens, Samuel, Governor, 98. 

Stephens. Major. His E.vpedition to explore a route 
for a Pacific Railroad, 516. 

Steuben, Baron. In Virginia, in 1781. 333. Pursues 
Cornwallis, 1781, 3.39. Portrait and notice of, 291. 

Stewart, Commodore, 440. 

Stewart, Colonel. At Orangeburg, in 1781, 337. Pur- 
sued by Greene, 337, 338. 

Stirling, Lord, General, 144, 248, 254, 261. His skir- 
mish with a corps under Cornwallis, 272. Notice of, 
254. 

Stirling, Colonel (British), 259. 

Stockade. Described, 183. 

Stockbridge Indians, ls9. 

Stockton, Richard. Signer of the Declaration of In- 
dependence, 602. 

Stockton, Robert F., Commodore. Takes possession 
of Los Angelos; at San Gabriel, 487. Notice of, 487. 

Stoddart, Benjamin. First Secretary of the Navy, 
382, 389. 

Stone, Thomas. Signer of the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, 6LI2; and' of the Articles of Confederation, 
604. 

Stone, William, Governor, 152. 

Stonington. Commodore Hardy at, in 1814, 437. 

Stono Indians. Depredations by the, in the Carolinas, 
165. 

Stono Ferry, 296. 

Stony Creek. Skirmish at, in 1813, 426. 

Stony Point. Capture of, 297, 298. 

Story, Joseph, Judge. Portrait, autograph, and notice 
of, 612, 613. 

Stoughton. Captain, 88. 

Strain, Lieutenant. Of the United States Navy, 524. 

Straits 0/ Bilhisl,, 48. 

Streets of PhiUidelphia. Origin of the names of, 162. 

Strickek, General. At Baltimore, in 1S14, 437. 

String, Wampum, 1.3. 

Strong, Caleb, 356. 

Stuart. Alexander II. Secretary of the Interior, in 
1850, 502. 

Stuyvesant, Peter, Governor, 93, 141, 142. Captures 
Swedish forts ; chastises the Esopus Indians, 143. 
Portrait and autograph of, 142. 

Sub- Treasury Scheme, 471, 475. 

Sugar Bill, The, 213. 

Suits at Common Law, in the United States, 630. 

Sullivan, John, General, 238. At Brooklyn, 25.3. 
Paroled, 257. Succeeds General Charles Lee ; joins 
Washington, 261. At Trenton, 262. At Brandywine, 
273. Supersedes General Spencer, 289. At the bat- 
tle of Quaker Hill, 290. His Expedition against the 
Six Nations, 303, 304. At Tioga Point; at Chemung, 
304. One of the members of the first Continental 
Congress, 588. Portrait of, 304. Notice of, 803. 

Sultan, The. Mary Fisher's mission to, 123. 

Sumner, Jetiiro, General, 337. 

Sumter, Thomas, General. In South Carolina, 1780, 
314. On the Catawba; at Hanging Rock, 315. At 
Fishing Creek, 316. Returns to South Carolina. 1780, 
319. Cornwallis calls him. The South Carolina Game- 
cock, 319. Portrait of, 315. 

Sun. Worship of the, 29, 40. Temples of the, in Mex- 
ico and Peru, 40. 

Superior, Lake : see Lake Superior. 

Supremacy, Act ot, in 1534, 75. 

Sup/reme Court of the United States. Jurisdiction of 
the, 624. 

Supreme Laic of the United States, defined, 628. 

Susquehanna Indians, 17, 110. 

Sutter, Captain. Of California, gold discovered near 
the mill of, in 1848, 497. 

Sioanzey. King Philip attacks the men of Plymouth 
at, in 1675, 125. 

Siveden. Comprised in Scandinavia, 34. 

Sicedes. Seize Fort Casimir, 142. Subjugated by the 
Dutch, 143. In New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, 62. 

Swedish. Colony in America, 92. Fortresses, captured 
by Stuyvesanti \iS. West India Company, 93. 

Swine. Taken to America, first by De Soto, 44 ; to New- 
foundland and Nova Scotia, 47, '58; to Virginia, 68. 



IXDEX. 



Swords. Ancient, found at Montevideo, 11. 
Sycamores. At Providence, Kliode Island, 90. 
Sy.mmes, John Ci.f.ves, 3G^J. 
Sijracuse, New York. Great Council Firo at, 23. 

Tabaco, Yucatan, 70. 

TalUuhga. Battle at. in 1S1.3, 428. 

TiilluxhiUchee. Ucnenil Coffee at, in 1S14, 428. 

TiimdroiKi IniU(in.% 19. 

7'amnutnjf Hall, New York City, 14S. 

Ta»ij)ii liaij. De Soto lands at, in 1539, 44. 

Tampico. t\apturcd by Commodore Conner, 4S5. 

Taney, 1!ooer 15.. Cliief Justice. Removes tlie Govern- 
ment funds from the United States Bank, 405. Ad- 
ministers the oath of office to President Van Buren, 
1837, 470; to President Harrison, 1841,474; to Presi- 
dent Taylor, 1S49, 499 ; and to Presdent Pierce, 1S53, 
514. 

Tariff mil. Of 1S2S, 459, 403, 4G4. Modifications of 
the, 47(;, 477. 

Tari.eton, Colonel. Loss of his cavalry liorscs, off 
Cape Ilatteras, 3o9. Defeats Colonel lliifrer, in 1780, 
311. Hisshumhter of Buford's troops, 17sii, 313. At 
Sanders's Creek, 316. At Fishing Creek, 31G. At the 
Cowpens, 331. Portrait and notice of, 316. 

Tattooiufj, Indian, 13. 

Taxation. Without representation, is tyranny, 164, 
165,211,212. William I'itfs opinion of, 217. Views 
of, in the Caroliuas, l(i4. 165; and in Massachusetts, 
219. In the United States, 619. 

Taylor, George. Signer of the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, 602. 

Tayloi:, Zaciiary', General. Succeeds General Jessnp, 
in the Seinin(de War, 1S37, 468. His Army of Occu- 
pation, 480. At Point Isabel, 4S1. Captures Meta- 
iiioras, 483. At Monterey, 484 ; Victoria, 485 ; Buena 
Vista. 486. Map of the resion of liis ojierations, 486. 
President of the United States, 1849, 490. Death of, 
501. Portrait, autograph, and notice of, 498. 

Tea. Tax on, l)y the British Government, 222. De- 
struction of, at Boston, 22.5. 

Tecumseii. Shawnee Chief, 20, 408, 411. Defeated 
by Colonel Miller, 411. Rouses the Southern tribes 
of Indians, 1813, 427. Death of, 424. Notice of, 
424. 

Te Deiim, The. Sung, alter victories and deliverances, 
265. 

Telfair, Kdwakd. Signer of the Articles of Confed- 
eration, 611. 

Temple qfthe Sun. In Mexico and Peru, 40. 

Tennessee. Idol found in, 11. 

Terry, Admiral. His fleet, at Newport, in 1780, 321. 
Death of, 839. 

Territory. Indian, claimed by England, 17. South- 
west of the Ohio, 372. Territorial Government of 
the United States, 362. Territorial System, 611. 
"The Territories," 96. 

Te-ungk-too, or Cross Lake, 23. 

Texas. Indians in, in 1853. 33. Retained In' Spain, in 
1819, 451. Annexation of, to the United States, 477, 
478. State Constitution of, 479. Claims of, 499. 

Texel River, 71. 

Teyendagages. The totum of, 15. 

names River, Connecticut. Discovered by Block, 72, 
87. Mohegan Indians on the. 21. 

Thames River, Canada. Battle on the, 424. 

Thanksgiving and Prayer. Congress recommends 
the ap[)ointment of a day for, 1789, 370. National, 
after the Peace of 1814, 144. 

Tiiayesdanega : see Brant, Josepil 

Thicket/;/ .Uonntnin.mX. 

TnoMAS,'JoiiN, General, 238. In Canada, 1776; notice 
of, 2*3. 

Thompson, Ben.iamin, Colonel. Count Rumford ; por- 
trait, autograph, and notice of, 346. 

TiiOMi-^(iN. Colonel. At Sullivan's Island, 1776, 249. 

TiioMi'SdN, Davu). His colony of fishermen, 79. 

Thompson, Smith. Secretary of the Navy, 1818, 447. | 

Thompson, Wiley, General. His Expedition to Flor- , 
ida, 1834. 466. Death of, 467. I 

Thomson, Charles. Secretary of the Continental Con- 
gress; Congress presents an urn to his wife, 228. j 
Portrait and autograph of, 227. I 

TiiORLOCK, Bp. Of Iceland, 3.5. 

Thornton, Matthew. Signer of the Declaration of 
Independence, 602. 

Thornton, Captain. At the Rio Grande, 4^1, 482. 

TiioKWALosEN, Bertel. Danish scidptor, 35. 

Thury. M., the Jesuit. 130. 

Ticonderoga. Samuel Champlain at, 59. Abcrcrom- 



GGit 

196. Ruins of, 197. 



bie s Expedition against ; map of, 19 
Captured by Allen and Arnold, 23>i. 

'• Tigress," schooner, 420. 

TiLGHMAN Edward. Member of the Stamp Act Coii- 
gress, 5o6. ' 

TiLGHMAN Matthew. Member of the first Conti- 
nental Congress, 688. 

Timber Creek, 93. 

Tinicnm A/a/if/, 93. 

Tinto River, 39. 

Tij'jieranoe. Battle of, 408. 

Tolian-o. Its ancient general uso among the Aborigi- 
nals, 14. Discovery of; Introduced int.. Eiit;lan.l ; 
King James's treatise on ; trade in, 7o. A circulating 
medium in Virginia, l(i5. James 1. proposes t.. con- 
ti-act for the whole crop of, in Virginia, in lfi2^ 107. 
Treaty of, in Virginia, 114. Culture of, ul Plvmoutb, 
unsuccessful, 116. 

Tol/asco. Cortez lands at, 43. Captured bv Commo- 
dore Perry, 4S6. 

Tomahairk's. Indian, 14. 

Tombighee River, 3i). 

To-MO-cHi-cHi. deck Sachem; his speech to Ogle- 
thorpe, 103. *" 

ToMi'KiNs, Daniel D., Governor, 412. Vice President 
of the United States, 1817 ; notice of, 446. 

Tonomy Hill, Rhode Island, 125. 

Torbay. William of Orange lands at, 113. 

Tortugas Lilnnils. Ponce de Leon at, in 1512, 42. 

Tories. In the Carolinas, in 1780. 3u9. The term Torr, 
explained, 220. 

Totten, Colonel. At Vera Cruz ; notice of, 489. 

Ttitiim. Indian. Explained, 15. 

Tturer at Xiu/io/t. Picture of the, 85. 

TowNsiiENi), Charles, Chancelloroftlie Exchequer, 219. 

Townshenu, General, 2ol. At Quebec, 2ol-2ii:i. 

Traditions. Indian, respecting a universal dtdiife. 11. 

Treason against the United States, defined ; hoH iiun- 
ished, 626. 

Treat, Robert. Governor, 156. 

Treaties. Indian, 362. 363. Treaty of Peace, between 
Great Britain and the United Stales. 1814. 443. 444. 
Treaty between Spain aud the United States, 1819, 
451. 

Treniont. Origin of the word. 118. 

Trenton, New^Jersev. Cajitured br Cornwalli.s. 260. 
Battle of, 262. Map of the battle oi; 203. The Conti- 
nental Congress meets at. .588. 

Trial by Jury, in the United States, 6.30. 

Tri-MoHutain, or Boston. Massachusetts, 118. 

Tripartite Treat)/. The, 513. 

Tripoli. The United States at war with, 1801, 890, 391. 
Decatur at, 1815,445. 

" Trippe,'" sloop, 420. 

Trist. Nicholas, P.. 61.3. United States Commissioner 
to treat for [>eace with Mexico, 494. 

Troup, Governor, 456. 

Trumbvll, John, LL.D. His remark respecting 
Washington, 1789, 370. Ilis allusion to General Clin- 
ton, 2881" 

Trumiu'll, Jonathan. Notice of, 824. Portrait and 
autograph of. 321. 

Tkyon, G.>vernor, 223. Driven from New York. 24S. 
At Compo, 270. Atrocities commilte.l by, 270, 271. 
His marauding Exi.e.liti..ns. in 1779. 296. 

TuoKKi:. President of the New Jersey C..n veliti.in, 260. 

Tuni.'<. The United States at war with, l^il, 390. De- 
catur at, 181.5, 445. 

TfPPER, General. 416. 

Ti'UGOT. M. His motto for a medal in hom.r of Frank- 
lin, 603. 

Tnrtle Tribe. 15. 

Tu.'^rarora Indians, 20, 23. Defeated by the Caroli- 
nians, 1712, 25 Join the Five Nati.ms, 1714, 25. 
Conspire .against the North Carolina settU inents, 1(>8. 

Tiixpan. Captured bv Commod.>re Perrv, 4n). 

TwiGiis, Generiil, 48;?." 489. At Cerro Gordo, 489, 490 ; 
at St. .\ugustine, 493. Notice of, 498. 

Ticighticee Indians, 19. Enemies of the United States, 
19. 

Tylf.r, John. Vice President of the United States, 
K41. 473. Succee.ls Prosi.lent Harris.. n. 1811 ; notice 
of, 475. Portrait and autograph of, 476. 

Typet. AVhen first used in i.rinting, 62. 

Vchee Indians. Their torrlt<»ry and language, 12, 2S. 

Population of the, in 16.">0. 31. 
Unpas. Mohegan Chief. ST. His rumor acninst the 

Narr.agansets. 1.5.'>. Revolts against Sossacus ; grave 

of; picture of the Monument to, 21. 



670 



INDEX. 



Undeeiiill, John, Captain, S7, 141. 
Union Flag, 144. Picture of tlie, 245. 
Unitarians. Persecuted in Maryland, 82, 151. 
United States. Presidents of the : see Presidents. 
Bank, 446 ; opposed bv President Jackson, 462, 465, 
466. Census, 535 ; in iSOO, 3S8. Commerce, SSl, .382 ; 
non-intercourse with Great Britain, in 1806, 399; and 
in 1309, 406; injured by England and France, 400, 
401 ; and by pirates, in 1819, 453. Confederation, Ar- 
ticles of, 266, 267, 353, 355. Constitution, .355 ss. Dis- 
covery of the coast of the, by Cabot, 47. History of 
the, by Bancroft, and by Hildreth, 60. Mint, 372, 378. 
Internal Trade of, 635. Navy, origin of the, 3S2 ; 
state of, in 1811, 407; and in 1S12, 414, 41.5. Post 
Office, 373. Revenue, in 1800, 388. Territorial ex- 
tent of, 535. 

Treaties: with Algiers, 1795, .381; Belgium, 469; 
France, 1800, 336; Great Britain, 1783, 348; 1794, 880; 
and 1815, 44=3; Mexico, 1848, 497; Miami Indians, 
1809, 408; Russia, 469; Spain, 831; and 1819, 451; 
Tripoli, 1805, 395. 

Wars: with Algiers, 1801, 390 ; England, 1812, 409 ; 
France, 1798, 385 ; Mexico, 1846, 4mi ss. ; and 1854, 
522; Morocco, 1801, 390 ; Tripoli, and Tunis, 1801, 390. 
Claims of the, against France and Portugal, 468. 
Dispute of the, with Great Britain, respecting Ore- 
gon, 479, 480. State of the, in 1809, 405, 406. Ex- 
ploring Expedition returns to, in 1842, 476. Indian 
population of, in 1853, 32. Relations between the, 
and Spain, respecting Cuba, 512. 

''United States' frigate, 382, 414, 415. 

Upshur, Abel P. Secretary of the Navy, 475. 

UssELiNcx. Projector of the Dutch West India Com- 
pany, 92. 

Utah. Indians, 38 ; number of, in 1853, 33. Mormons 
in, 499, 503. Territory of, 501, 507. Railroad to, 516. 

UtrecM. Peace of, 135. 

Valenci.\, General. At Contreras, in 1847, 493. 

Valladolid. Columbus dies at, in 1506, 41. 

Valley Forge. Washington in winter quarters at, 284. 
Map of the encampment, 285. 

Valparaiso. Naval action at, in 1^14, 431. 

Van Buuen, Maktin. Secretary of St.ate, in 1329, 461. 
Vice-President of the United States, 1832, 464. Pres- 
ident, 1337, 469. Portrait and autograph of, 47(>. 
Notice of, 469. 

Van Dam, Rip, 150. 

Van Dyke, Nicholas. Signer of the Articles of Con- 
federation, 611. 

Vane, Heney, 86. Governor ; favors Anne Hutchinson, 
120. 

Van Horne, Major, 411. 

Van Rensselaer, Solomon, Colonel, 413. 

Van Rensselaer, Stephen, General. Commands the 
Army of the Centre, 412. Portrait and autograph of, 
413. Notice of, 412. 

Van Rensselaer, Killian, 1.39. 

Van Twiller, Woutek, 139. 

Van Wart, Isaac, 826. 

Varnum, James M., General, 355. 

Vasco de Gama. Passes the Cape of Good llope, in 
1497, 37. 

Vasco, Lttcas : see D'Ayllon. 

Vasco Nunez: see B.vlboa. 

Vandreuil. Governor-General of Canada, 203. 

Vaughan, John, General. Burns Kingston, 283, 297. 

Velasquez. Governor of Cuba; his Expeditions to 
Mexico, 43. 

Vera Cruz. Its fortress ; map of intrenchments at ; 
capture of, by General Scott, 1847, 489. 

Vergennes, Count de. His dissatisfaction respecting 
the Treaty of Peace, 1783, 348. 

Vermont. Added to the United States, in 1791, 871. 
Slavery never existed in, 534. 

Verplanck's Point. Capture of the fortress at, 297. 

Verazzani, John. Ills Expedition to America, in 
1523 ; portrait of, 47. 

Versche River, or Connecticut River, 82. 

Vesper Hymn. Sung by Columbus and his crew, 39. 

Vespucius, Americus. Account of, 40, 41. Visits the 
West Indies, and South America, in 1499, 41. Discov- 
eries by, 60. Portrait of, 84. 

Veto and Approval powers of the President of the 
United St.ates, 616. 

Vice-President of the United States. How elected, 
621, 631, 6.32. 

Victoria, General, 477. 

Vi.iiL, Father. At Washington city, 1855, 527. 

ViLHEr.d, M. de, 183. 



Vincennes. Captured, and re-captured, 1779, 303. 

" Viper"'' brig, 414. 

" Virago'^ steamship, 524. 

Virgin Bay. Battle at, 1855, 525. 

Virginia. Origin of the name of, 55. Capes of, 59. 
North, 63. South, 63, 63. First settlement of, 62. 
The colonists of, subdue the Shawnees, at Point 
Pleasant, 19. Lord De la Warr, governor of, in 1609, 
68. Famine in, in 1610, 69. A thousand Englishmen 
in, in 1613, 70. Yeardley's administration in, 70, 71. 
Representative Assembly in, 71, lo5. Tobacco a cir- 
culating medium in, in 1619, 105. Opposes Cromwell; 
invites Charles II. to be king of Virginia, 109. The 
Seneca Indians make war upon, 110. Response of the 
Burgesses of, to Jeffries, 118. A ship, laden with corn, 
sails from, to Boston, 118. Militia of, in 1688; coun- 
ties and parishes of; population of. in 1688, 114. Takes 
measures against the French, in 1754, 182, 183. Grant 
from Parliament to, in 1756, 206. Lord Dunmoro 
driven from, 243. The Virginia Plan, 359. 

'■ Vixen" brig, 414. 

Voyages ami Discoveries, Spanish, 36-45. 

" Vulture''' sloop-of-war, 326. 

'Wahash Piver. Indians on the, 21. 

Wadswokth, Captain, 150, 157. 

Wainweicht, Bishop. At the opening of the World's 
Fair at New York, 517. 

Waldron, Major. Death of, 130. 

Wales. Supposed Indian colony from, 82. 

Walker, Governor, 165. 

Walker, Sir Hovendon. At Boston, with a fleet and 
army, 1711, 136. 

Walker, Robert J. Secretary of the Treasury, 1845, 
478. 

Walker, William, Colonel. Ilis military operations, 
52.5, 526. 527. 

Walker, Captain. Of the Texan Rangers, 4S1, 482. 

Wallace, Sir James, 223. 

Walla- Walla Piter. Battle at the, in 1355, 528. 

Walloons. Thirty families of, arrive at Manhattan, in 
1623, 73. 

Walls. Ancient, discovered in America, 11. 

W<ilnut Springs, 484. 

Walnut-street, Philadelphia. Origin of the n.ame, 162. 

Walpole, Robert, 213. 

Walton, George. Member of the Convention on the 
Articles of Confederation, 356. Signer of the Decla- 
ration of Independence, 602. 

Walton, John. Signer of the Articles of Confedera- 
tion, 611. 

Wampanoag^ndians, 22, 114, 124. 

Wampum, In<iian. Picture and description of, 13. 

Wanciiese. Indian chief, 55. 

War. Of the Si)anish Succession, 1.35. Of the Aus- 
trian Succession, 137. See United States. 

War-cluh, Indian, 14. 

Ward, Artemas, General. In the French and Indian 
War, 198. His appointment as General, 1775, 230, 234, 
238. At Boston, 239. Enters Boston, after its evacu- 
ation in 1776, 247. 

Ward, Henry. Member of the Stamp Act Congress, 
556. 

Ward, Samuel. Member of the first Continental Con- 
gress, 1774, 588. 

Warner, Seth, Colonel, 2.34, 240, 276, 277. 

Warren, Joseph, Dr., 232, 2.33. Portrait of, 237. 

Warren, Admiral, 137, 138, 191. 

Warwicke, Earl of, 85. 

Waricick, Rhode Island. Burned, 127. 

Washington. City. 67. Burned by General Ross, 1814, 
436. The Seat of Government of the United States, 
388. 

Washington, George. Bearer of Governor Dinwid- 
dle's letter to M. St. Pierre, in 1753, 181. His journey 
on the occasion, 181, 182. Colonel Fry's Lieutenant, 
in the French and Indian War, 182. At Great Mead- 
ows, 183. Resigns his commission, in 1754, 184. 
Braddock's Aid ; in the battle of Monongahela; reads 
the funeral service over the dead body of Braddock ; 
returns to Virginia : his wonderful escape from death, 
at Monongahela, 136. With General Forbes, in his 
Expedition .against Fort Du Quesne, in 1758, 198. 
Member of the first Continental Congress, 1774, 588. 
Commander-in-chief; .at Cambridge, 1775, 238. Causes 
the Declaration of Independence to be read to each 
of his brigades, 2.V2. His retreat from Long Island, 
2.i4, 257. At Harlem Heights, 2.57. Exposure at 
Kip's bay; crosses the Hudson ; at the house of Roger 
Morris, 269. Crosses the Delaware ; pursued by 



INDEX. 



671 



Cornwallis, 260. Captures Hessians at Trenton ; in- 
vested with the power of a military dictator, 2t)4. 
His victory at Princeton, ii)>^. Opinidii ol' liis exploits 
in New Jersey, expressed by Frederic of I'nisbia; 
his winter-quarters at Morristown, •>*)'.). Perplexed 
byllowe; at Philadelphia, 17TT; liis lirst interview 
with La Fayette, 272. Crosses the Schuylkill, 274. 
At White Marsh, 283. Pursues Clinton, in 177S; ral- 
lies General Lee's troops ; Lee's offensive letter to, 
2SS. At White Plains; at MidiUebrook, 288. Disap- 
proves of the proposed invasion of Canada, in 1778, 
294. At Valley Forge, 274, 284. Scheme for super- 
seding hira, 285. At Monmouth, 287. Called by the 
Indians, "Town Destroyer;" Cornplanter's Address 
to, :!04. In winter-quarters at Morristown, 306. Fits 
out armed vessels at Boston, 307. Lieutenant-Gen- 
eral of the French empire ; his first interview with 
Rochambeau, 32-3. Kepriinands Arnold, 1780, 32.5. 
Sends the wife and son of Arnold to New York, 326. 
Proposes to attack New York, in 17S1, 339. Writes 
deceptive letters to General Greene ; .at Yorktown, 
340, 341. At New York, after the capture of Corii- 
wallis, 346. Suppresses the itencral discontent in the 
army, in 1782, 349. Quells tbe nmtiny of the Penn- 
sylvania troops, in 17S3, 350. Nicola's letter to him. 
349. His Farewell Address to his companions in 
arms, in 1783, .350; and his forcwell to his officers, 
351, 3.52. Resigns his commission ; President of the 
Cincinnati Society, 3,52. Hamilton, the favorite Aid 
of, 360, 361. President of the. Convention to revise 
the Articles of Confederation, 1787, 356. Sifrner of 
the Constitution, 629. President of the United States; 
his administration, 364. His journey to New York, 
in 1789, 364, 365. Takes the oath of office; attends 
divine service at St. Paul's Chapel, New York, 366. 
His tour through the northern and eastern States, in 
1789, 370. Re-elected President, .377. His Farewell 
Address to his countrymen, 382, 633 ss. Retires to 
Mount Vernon, in 1797", 38.3. Death of, in 1799, 386, 

387. Lee's Funeral Oration on, 387. Bonaparte's 
tribute to, 387, 388. Tribute to, by the British fleet, 

388. Portrait and autograph of, 365. 
Washington, Mrs. Wife" of the President ; notice of, 

386. Portrait and autograph of, 387. 

Washington, John, 110. 

Washington, William Augustine, Colonel, 334. Por- 
trait and notice of, 332. 
Washington Territon/, 480, 513. 

" Wasp;' sloop, 414, 415. 440. 

Watson, Colonel On the Pedee, 820. 
Waterford. Henry Hudson at, 59. 
Watertoicn, Massachusetts. Foimded, US. 

Wayne, General. Surprised by General Grey, 274. 
Captures Stony Point, 298. Attempts to suppress the 
mutiny of the Pennsylvania troops, .328. Pui-sues 
Cornwallis, 339. At Savannah, 346. His Expedition 
against the Indians, in 1793. 374. Crushes the Lenni- 
Lenapes, in 1794, 21. Portrait and notice of, 298. 

Webb, Gener.al, 194. 

Webster, Daniel. Secretary of State, 1S4I.474; and 
1850, 502. His negotiation with Lord Ashburton, 
1842, 472. Seconds Mr. Clay's Compromise Act, 501. 
His Oration, at the laying of the corner-stone of the 
addition to the Capitol of the United States, 1S51, 
509. His answer to llulsemann's protest, 511. Por- 
trait, autogr.aph, and notice of, 502, 503. 

Webster, Fletciiek. Announces the death of Presi- 
dent Harrison, 475. 

Webstf,!!, Lieutenant-Colonel, 334. 

Webster, Cai>tain. At Saltillo, 486. 

Weir. Ruhert W. His picture of the Emb.arkation of 
the Pilgrims. 77. 

" Welcome," ship, 96. 

Wellington, Lord. With his armv, enters Paris, in 
1814, 431. 

Wells, Colonel. One of the chief leaders against the 
savages, 1813, 416. 

Welsh Indians, 32. i 

We.mvss, M.ajor. At the Broad River, in 1780, 319. 

Wentworth, John, Jr. Signer of the iVrticles of Con- i 
federation, 611. 

Wcroicoromoco, Virginia. 66. | 

W'eslev, .John, Rev." In Georgia, 171. ( 

West, Benjamin, 356. Portrait and autograph of, 210. 

West, Joseph. His colonv, in 1670, 98. 

Westchester, New York. General Knyphausen at, 2.59. 

West Indie.1, The. Voyases of Coluiiibus and Vespii- 
cius to, 40, 41. Trade of, 367. 

West Jerseij. Remarkable law cn.icted by the Assem- ' 
bly of, in 1631, 160. ' 



Weston's Colony, 11,5. 

West Point, New York. Arnold appointed to the com- 
mand of. 32.5. 
Wct/ur.'.n'r/d. Connecticut, 86, 89. 
\\ F.VMoi Tit, Cr.oRct:, Captain, .5h. 
l\f>J>n''"</i, Massachusetts. Burned, 127. 
Hhale/ioat ]\ar/iire, 3os. 

Whales Prove the faot'of a passage between Behrinc 
Strait anil Balhn s Bav, 511. '^ 

WiiALLEV, Edward. Regicide Judge, 123. 
Wheeler, John K. Notice of, 526. 
Wheeler, Captain, 126. 

Wheelock, Rev. Dr. His school, at Lebanon, 2.5. 
W iiEELWRiGHT, John, Rev. Founds Exeter, so. Favort 

the relurious views of .Mrs. Hutchinson, 120. 
\\h>ii<ind Tori/. Explanation of the terms, 226. Whiz 
Party, in ls")6. .531. * 

Whiri^le, .\iiRAnA.M, Commodore, 22.3. His flotilla: por- 
trait, autograph, and notice of, 310. 
Whiprle, William. Signer of the Declaration of In- 
dependence, 602. 
Whipple, Lieutenant. His Expedition to explore • 

route for a Pacific railroad, 516. 
Whiskey Insurrection, The, 378. 
WiiiTCOMn, Simon, 117. 
White, John, Governor, 56, ,57. 
White, W1LLIA.M. His son Peresrine, the first English 

child born in New England, 78.' 
White, Colonc-l. On the Santec River, in 1780, 811. 
Whitefield. George, Rev. In Georgia, 171. 
WiiiTEFiELD, John W., General. His'seat in Congress 

contested, in 185.5, .530. 
White Mountains of New Ilnmpshire, 19. 
White PltiinD, New York. Washiiifton .at, 258. 
WicKLiFFE, Charles A. Postmaster-General, 475. 
AVicKLiFKE, JoH.v DE, the Reforim r, 62. 
Wife. Price of a, in Virginia, in 162o, lf'.5. 
Wiffwarn, Indian. Picture and description of a, 13. 
WiUl Flowers. Planted by Indians, on the graves of 

their friends, 15. 
Wilkes, Lieutenant. His Expedition. 476. 477. 
Wilkinson, Jame.s, General. Sent by Gates with a 
verbal message to CoMirress. 282. His Expedition 
.•urainst the Indians, in ITOo. 374. Burr's associate, in 
1811,5.396. With General Dearborn, lsl2. 410. Suc- 
ceeds Dearborn, in l'~13 ; his operations. 426. .Vt 
Prescott, 426, 427. At St. Regis; at French MUls, 
427. At Plattsburg, in 1814, -iSi. Notice of, 426. 
WiLLARD, Major. At Brookfiehl, in 167.5, 126. 
WiLLBTT, Colonel, 278. 
William I., of Ensland, 62. 

William 1 1., of Enirland, 1 1-3. Has no children, 186. 
AViiLiAM III., and Mary. Accession of. 13o, 14<. Their 
war with France, 130. William prohibits printing in 
the American colonies, 158. Interested in Captain 
Ki:Ul's Expedition, 149. 
William ami .Mary College. 178. 
Williams, David. One of the captors of .\ndre, .326. 
Williams, Ephraini, Colonel. Death of, 190. 
Williams, .Tamics, Colonel. .\t King's Mountain. 819. 
Williams. Joii.v. Signer of the Articles of Confedera- 
tion, 611. 
Willi AM,s, John, Rev. Captured by Indians; picttre 

of his house; fate of his wife, 135. 
Williams, Otho II., Colonel. 818. 
Williams, Roger, 87, 1.58. Founder of Rhotle Island. 
89,119. Persecuted, 119. Pacides hostile Indians at 
New Netherland, 141. Portrait and autograph of, 90. 
Notice of, 89. 
Williams, William. Signer of the Decl.aration of In- 
dependence. 602. 
Williams < ollene. Founded, 190. 
Williams's Spring, 90. 
Williamslmrg, Virginia, 111. 
Williamson, High. Signer of the Constitution of tho 

United States, 629. 
Williamson, Passmore, .526. 
Wilmington, Delaware, 93. 
Wilmot, Captain. Death of. .848. 

Wii.soN. James. Member of the Convention on thp 
Articles of Confederation, 17-'7, 3,56. .3.59. Judire of 
the Supreme Court of the United St;ites, 369. Signer 
of .the Declaration of Indepemlence, 602; and of the 
Constitution of the United States 629. 
Wilson, Rev. Mr. One of the two Boston ministers; 

Saltonst-all's letter to, 118. 
Wii,soN, Robert, Ensisn, -842. 

Wiltici/cl: Indians m.as.sacre the inhabifanU of, 14.8. 
Winchester, General, 416. 417. Notice of. 418. 
Winder, General, 4'26. At Bladensburg, in ISU, 484. 



672 



INDEX. 



Windsor, Connecticut, S9. 

WiNGFiELi. Edwaru M. Ilis conduct toward Captain 

John bmitli ; deposed, 65. 
Winnebago ImUunn. Cliaracter of the, 19. Hostile to 
the Moux, 31. Conspire against the English, in 1763, 
205. ° ' 

WiNSLOw, Edward, Governor, 85, 185. Received by 
Massasoit, 1620, 114. Cows and a bull imported by, 
lib. His letter to Governor Winthrot) 142 
vViNSLow, John, General, 185, 191. 
Winston, Joseph, Colonel. At King's Mountain, 319. 
Winter. Severe, of 1TTT-17TS, 284. 
WiNTiiROP John, Governor, 117,118. His Expedition 
against Canada, 131. Applies to Charles H. for a new 
charter, 1.55 Indian chiefs at the table of, 118 Por- 
trait and autograph of, 117. Notice of, 118 
Wuiyaio Buy. La Fayette lanils on the shore of, 273 
WiBT William. Attorney-General of the United 

States, 447, 454. 
Wisconsin. Admitted to the Union, in 1848, 497 
WiSNER, Henry. Member of the first Co^tinental 

Congress, 1774, 588. 
Wissugusset Settlement, 115, 116. 
Witchcraft. In Massachusetts, 132 133 
WiTHERSPOON, John, Rev. Signer' of the Articles of 
Confederation, 611 ; and of the Declaration of Inde- 
• pendence, 602. Moves, in Congress, to strike out the 
word Scotch from the Declaration of Independence, 
WoGoken Mand, 55. 

WoLCOTT, Oliver. Signer of the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, 602; and of the Articles of Confederation, 
bll. Secretary of the Treasury, 384. 
Wolfe Tribe, 15. ^' 

Wolfe James, General, 196, 199, 200. At Q'lebec 201 

Death of; monument to, 202. Portrait of '>ol 
Wolfe's Cove, 202, 241. ' 

Wolfe's Ravine, 202. 

Womeii. Indi.an, condition of, 14, 15. The first two on 
the Janies River, 67. A hundred and fifty, become 
wives of V^irginia planters, 71. No white, in Virginia, 
•" 1^1? ; "inety, sent by Sandys, in 1620 ; sixty, sent, 
in 1621, lOo. See W^;/«. 
Woodbury Levi. Secretary of the Treasury, 1836, 470. 
Wood Creek, \S\. j, ^^,i.u. 

Woodford, General, 244, 811. 
WooDHULL, Nathaniel, General, 198, 254. 
Wool, John Ellis, General, 413. At Monclova; at 
Pan-as, 484. At Rraceti, 488. At Saltillo, 4S9. His 
Indian campaign, 1855, 528. Notice of, 484. 



"S"216^''"' "'"^ *° P'"''^^"' *'^° ^"••'^city of, in Amer- 

WooLSEY, Captain, 4.32. 

Woostek, David, General, 2.38 243 271 

'S 5U'"'- ^' ^°'"^""' 1S51 ;'a;^ ,t New York, 

''^a"uilio'V4"n't''t-h'^f-"''[f'- A* ^'"""^--oy. 483. At 
S494'. ''Notice' 5^49^'"^ '' ^'-•"^^■. 490?^ At Me.v- 
Wright, Sir James, 295, 599 
WRiGiiT, G. W., of California, 499 
nrittng. Indian iiictiiro 13 
Writs of As.ii.stiiiir, "12 

"unl^d^^:V''";n' 7?' ^■. Certe their lands to the 

Wyoming Valley. Devastation of, in 1778 ''90 9Qi 

IrtlclVwr?"^- .^^""^" ""U'^' Convention 01 'the 
. Ai tides of Confederation, 1787, 356. Signer of the 
Declaration of Independence, 6u2. 

Takinaw County. Battle in, 1855, 527 
Yale, Elisiia. Benefactor of Yale College. 178 
1 ale College, 158, 1 78. " ' 

Yamacraw Bluff, 100, 103. 
Yamusee Indians. 30. 168, 170. 
Yankee Doodle, the National Sons, 220 
1 ATES, Robert. Member of the Convention on the Ar- 
ticles of Confederation. 1787, 356. 
Yazoo River. De Soto on the banks of the, in 1541 44 
1 eamans, Sir John, 98. ' 

Yeardley, George, Governor. 70, 107. His Represent- 
ative Assembly, 105. 
Yellow Stone River, 33. 
Yeo, Sir James, 432. 
York, Duke of, 94. His American possessions 129 

Sells New Jersey, 159. 
York River. 17, 66. 
Yorkshire, territory of, SO. 

Yorktown, Virginia. Fortified by Cornwallis, in l781, 
340. Map of the siege of, .341. Surrenderof,341,84? :'46, 
Young, Sir John, 117. 
Youngstown. Burnt, in 1S13, 427. 
Yucatan. Discovery of, in 1506, 41. 

Zenger, John Peter. Editor of the New York Weekli/ 

Journal : arrested, 150. 
Zipangi, The country of, 33. 



THE END. 



?! 



<! 



